There's Still Hope
by OreoAnarchy
Summary: Clementine, Luke, Kenny and AJ have made it this far into the apocalypse. Most of the walkers have rotted away by now, and their only worries are food, water and shelter - Or so it used to be. When the survivors end up reuniting with an old 'friend', they are forced to work together to survive the sick, twisted, and chaotic events unfolding around them; Who will survive?
1. Sunshine And Rainbows (Mostly)

**Before you read, I just wanted to say, thank you all for being so patient. I shouldn't have kept you waiting this long, but I wanted to make up for it with this long chapter. Please, leave a review with some advice and ideas! I hope you like the revamped story of There's Still Hope. Sorry that this chapter doesn't have much action in, but I wanted you to see some bonding time first. Because when shit hits the fan, you won't get to see much of that.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I... I can't go on much longer. I need'a break." Luke moaned, clutching his stomach as he trailed behind Kenny, AJ and I. I was leading our small group forward, trudging through the never-ending woods. Each step we took caused a horrible, loud crunching sound beneath us. The floor was literally just damp sticks and twigs, so we couldn't make a fire. All the trees had died and lost their leaves. Our surroundings were colorless. It felt so depressing. We need to get out of these woods soon. I'm going stir-crazy in here.

"Move your lazy ass, Luke." Kenny hissed through his teeth, taking his cap off and running his hands through his wispy grey hair. He repositioned his black eye-patch over his eye, before focusing on looking straight forward.

"Heh, well I'm sorry for bein' 'lazy'." Luke joked as he tried his best to speed up his pace, coming side to side with Kenny. "I'm just startin' to feel my age. I'm not used to it."

"Clem, can we take a break please?" I hear AJ's quiet voice plead. I turn my head around and peer at him, only to see his huge, adorable eyes staring up at me. You can not resist AJ's cuteness. It's impossible.

"Okay. But only for a couple of minutes." I tell them, before leaning against a nearby tree.

"Finally." I hear Luke gasp before collapsing into a bed of twigs. Shaking my head with a grin on my face, I take my cap off and run my hands through my curly hair. My stomach was growling and my throat was dry. The temperature didn't help. It was way too hot. I was sweating like a pig. We were running out of water and food, and we had no shelter. We needed to find something fast.

Kenny glared at Luke who was sprawled out on the ground, half-asleep. "Fat-ass." He said before sitting on a nearby log.

I swivel my head and turn my attention to Luke. He had quite a muscular body instead of a podgy one like Kenny would always say he had. He has a nice body. Not in the weird way, of course.

"You're not fat." I smile at him, using my cap to fan away the heat from my face.

"Well, I knew that." Luke replies with confidence in his voice. "I got a nice toned body. It's why I get all the girls." He jumps onto his feet, wiping off all the dirt and leaves from his pants.

Kenny shook his head and let out a small chuckle. "But you ain't got 'em all, yet." He said, turning himself to face me.

I roll my eyes and shake my head at Kenny.

"Kenny, don't even start." I grin like an idiot before placing my cap back onto my head and letting out a huge huff.

"Well, I'm workin' on it." Luke remarks and wiggles an eyebrow at me. My eyes widen at his response. I open my mouth to say something, but the words won't come out.

"Oooh." Kenny whistles. Weeeell... This is disturbing.

"Can you immature assholes please cut it out?" I direct my insult towards Kenny and Luke, who respond with a small chuckle.

"I don't mean anythin' by it, Clem. It was a joke." I hear Luke say. "It's just how I get by with girls. Sorry for makin' ya uncomfortable."

"Thank god." I murmur, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's fine. I'm not looking for a relationship with anyone. Especially you." I state, emphasising the 'you'.

"Well thanks, Clem." Luke smiles at me.

"You're welcome." I frown and say sarcastically.

"You can be real sassy sometimes, y'know that?." Luke remarks before walking towards Kenny and AJ, who nodded in agreement.

"Poor Clem. Feel sorry for her. Bein' surrounded by a bunch of guys like us. " Kenny spoke out. I actually agree with that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" AJ frowned up at Kenny with a death glare.

"AJ's cool to me." I smile at AJ. Slowly, I turned my head to Kenny and Luke. "You two... You're just annoying."

"Just doin' our job." Luke winks at me before turning back to Kenny. "I think we should get movin' again. I'm starvin'."

"Of course you'd be starvin', you fat fuck..." Kenny scoffed, earning a nudge in the stomach from Luke.

"Why'd you always call Luke fat?" I ask curiously. I turn my head to face Luke, scanning my eyes up and down his body. "He's far from fat. Just my opinion."

"See, Kenny? The girls love my body." Luke places his hands on his hips and sticks his chest out proudly. _Oh, please._ I send a death glare straight into his eyes. "Gee, Clem. If looks could kill..."

"What does that mean?" AJ asks curiously, putting his finger on his lip.

"It means that we'd all be dead from the number of times that Clementine has stared at us like she's... I dunno, hatchin' some fuckin' plan to slit our throats in our sleep." Kenny steps in the middle of the conversation. I smirk and turn away, hearing AJ's gasp at Kenny's little story.

"Lets get moving."

* * *

"We've been walking for days." AJ whimpered as he stood next to me. "We haven't eaten or drank in awhile. We're probably gonna die soon."

Luke and I looked at AJ with a horrified expression. Well, then. "That ain't a very enthusiastic thing to say, li'l man." Luke says, still maintaining the expression of horror on his face.

AJ sighed. "I'm just saying, we need to find a lake or a river or something."

"AJ's right." I say. "We just gotta keep moving. I know it's hard, but it's our only choice. Just keep moving forward. We'll get out of these woods soon."

For the rest of the journey, I focus on the crunching and snapping of the sticks beneath my feet. It felt kind of damp. Does this mean there's water around here? I feel like I'm going to die soon, I'm so thirsty. I'm not as thirsty as Luke, though. A few hours ago, he suggested we drank our own... Pee. And he was serious. He's so disgusting, but... He's funny. It's funny when you grow up. You see a side to people that you've never seen before. It's a whole new perspective. I've shared things with him that I've never shared with anyone before. He's knows a lot of my secrets, and I know a lot of his. I probably shouldn't know about those secrets, though. Some of them are... Well, the seen can not be unseen.

And Kenny. I always saw him as my uncle when I was younger, but not anymore. Like I said, when you grow up, you see everything from a new perspective. Kenny's like a really, really close friend. And so is Luke.

And AJ! He's my little brother, always has been, and always will be. I raised him since birth. I wouldn't go as far to say that I'm his adoptive mother. Having kids doesn't appeal to me.

"**Holy shit**!" I hear Kenny exclaim. I jump out my skin and run to him, extremely startled. He comes to a halt as he stares off into the distance with a wide eye.

"What? What is it?" I walk over to him to see what's so interesting. What he was staring at was amazing. One of the luckiest things that have ever happened to us. In the distance, I could see a lovely serene river flowing by. I feel hungrier and thirstier than ever before.

"Our prayers have been answered!" AJ exclaims, pointing to the river in the distance. "C'mon guys, Let's go! I'm so thirsty!" He says ecstatically, jumping on the spot giddily like an innocent child. He's so adorable.

"Race y'all there! Okay, the first one there gets to sleep in their own sleeping bag tonight!" Kenny announces suddenly. "The last one there has to stay up all night washin' the blood an' sweat outta our clothes."

Immediately, Kenny and AJ took off. Oh _wow_, they got a headstart. I charge forward, not caring if my legs can't take it. I need to sleep in my own sleeping bag for once. I always have to share with AJ. He always ends up sprawling out when he sleeps, and it's too tight for me to handle. Plus, it's way too hot for two people to be in a confined space. I guess the only advantage of that is that Kenny and Luke have to share a sleeping bag. And trust me, it's hilarious. Kenny and Luke find it extremely awkward to be sleeping in a bag together. Kenny thinks it's _"Gay"_, and Luke gets pissed off at Kenny's snoring. But for some reason, they find it more awkward to sleep in the same bag as me. I asked them why it was so awkward, and Kenny replied with _'I don't want you to see my 'Morning Wood' It'd probably traumatize you_'. I didn't know what it was. and he didn't tell me what that meant, so I asked Luke. He told me. I never got over that day. I was officially traumatized for life. But I guess that's just what happens when you stick with a group of dirty men. But their crude humor can still give me the giggles, even if I only understand parts of what they mean.

"I'm catchin' up to ya!" I hear Luke call out to me, which snapped me out of my thoughts. He was speeding up now, almost side to side with me. He had an evil grin on his face. "Gee Clem, looks like you're gonna be cleanin' up my clothes tonight." He teased.

His words only made me more determined. "Not happening." I said through my teeth in a harsh tone. I look ahead of me to see AJ and Kenny. AJ was winning by far. Kenny wasn't far behind. I needed to catch up with him! I pick up my pace, running faster than I ever had before.

"Hey, wait up!" Luke calls out. I smile as I ignore his calls and come side to side with Kenny, sending a devious smile in his direction.

"Aw hell no!" Kenny gasps, trying to run faster but to no avail. I guess his age is finally catching up to him.

"Sorry gramps, but I don't plan on wasting my sleeping time on cleaning your filthy clothes." I taunt him and run past him with a huge smile. Okay, now just to catch up with AJ.

"Argh, you can be a li'l piece 'a shit sometimes!" Kenny remarks. I respond with a chuckle, and speed up my pace to try and catch AJ.

We're not too far from the river now. It's about a minute away. I'm so thirsty that it motivates me to run faster and faster. I wasn't too far from AJ now, if I just sped up a little bit I'd be able to catch him. But suddenly, my legs give way and I stumble to the ground unexpectedly, luckily landing on a bed of leaves.

"Ha!" Kenny shouts before running past me. _Fuck_. I jump to my feet and continue to run as if my life depended on it. I'm still third. I can still catch up if I really, really tried. There's no way I'm going to be four-

"You didn't think I'd let you win over me, did ya?" I hear Luke whisper in my ear. _Shit._

"Don't you even think about i-"

And before I can finish my sentence, he pulls me to the ground, pinning me down on the floor.

"Let's wait for 'em to finish... Because If I ain't gonna win, then you ain't gonna win either." He smiles at me evilly, still sitting on top of my stomach. Oh my god. _Bastard._

"I hate you so much." I give in to defeat as I watch AJ splash his feet in the river, Kenny congratulating him on doing so.

"Hey! Kenny never said there were any rules!" He holds his hands up in surrender.

"It's kind of basic fucking knowledge." I say, obviously agitated. "I was gonna win this."

"Yeah, well, I like to play dirty." He stares into my eyes, not realising what he just said. I give him a weird look in return. "Oh shit. That sounded nasty."

"Mhm." I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Bye bye, now!" Luke waves at me before jumping off my back, onto his feet, and running away towards the river as if his life depended on it. He was almost there.

"I hate him." I mutter under my breath as I chase after him, but to no avail. I lost. He's already standing next to Kenny, who was high-fiving him in victory. They laughed as I stormed out in a huge tantrum in their direction.

"Luke cheated!" I point towards the man I currently hate oh-so-much, running over to the river. I only just realized how tired I was. I need to catch my breath.

"There were no rules, Clem!" Kenny tells me. Real useful to know that now.

"Real useful to know that now, Kenny." I speak my mind and cross my arms across my chest. I really needed a drink. I walked over to the river and was tempted to take a sip, but it might not be good to drink yet. "Hey Ken, is this water good enough to drink?"

"I looked at it already. It looks clean, but you can never really tell. Best to stay safe. Could have AIDS and that nasty shit." He rambles on before taking my own backpack off of my back. _AIDS? _

"You don't get AIDS through water, Kenny... You get it through, y'know." Luke looks at Kenny confused, his eyebrows furrowed and his body in a slouched posture.

"I don't give a fuckin' shit, Luke." Kenny rolls his eyes. Whatever they were talking about, I seriously don't want to know.. "Hey Clem, You still got that nail file an' flint?"

"Yup." I'm slightly reminded of Jane whenever I see that nail file. I miss her a lot. But I couldn't kill Kenny over her, no way. When Luke found out what happened... It didn't go so well. We're so lucky he's here.

"Anyone got a bowl or somethin' we can put the shitty water in?" Kenny asked us. AJ steps out of the water, flinging his rucksack off from his shoulder.

"Here, I got a metal bowl with a handle from one of the houses we looked in. It looks quite deep so it could hold a lot of water in." He said, before placing the pan into Kenny's hand.

"This is a pan, AJ! Nice work!" Kenny looks at it impressed, rotating it up and down as he observes the sleek, metal pan.

"I'll go grab some decent wood to start a fire." I announce to Kenny. Although we were surrounded by wood, some of it was too damp and impossible to start a fire with.

"I'll come with ya." Luke steps next to me, smiling in my direction. Thanks for asking?

I roll my eyes and cross my arms, looking unimpressed. "You know, you could've ask-"

"Go ahead, you two. We ain't got time for dilly-dallyin'. I'm thirsty as fuck." Kenny rubs his stomach and sits on the ground along AJ, who was looking at us eagerly.

"Me too." AJ whimpers in his cute tone.

Luke surprisingly grabs me by the hand. I jump in surprise, but go along with it for the most part. "C'mon, Clemmy-clu." He teases, calling me the nickname he created for me that I hate so goddamn much.

"Screw you." I hiss through my teeth. He responds with a chuckle, before leading me away from AJ and Kenny, into the dark woods.

* * *

Luke, still holding on tightly to my hand, was leading me through the woods, trying to find a nice path of dry wood. I was still wondering why he was so eager to come with me into the woods.

"Clem," He mutters quietly. "Hey. Just wanted to have a normal conversation with ya away from them."

"Oh?" I reply, curiosity evident in my voice. "Well... Hi."

"..." He stared at me with his bold, chocolate brown eyes. Mhm, I really want chocolate. It's been a few years since I've had chocolate. "Well, I can't think of anythin' to talk about." He confesses awkwardly.

"Er, well..." I stutter, trying to think of a good conversation I could have with him. There's so many questions I wanted to ask him. But the simplest, and the 'most creative' thing ever, blurts out of my mouth. "What's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color?" He smirks at me.

"Don't judge." I shrug.

"Well, since you asked..." He says, coming to a halt in front of me. "Blue."

"Oh." I say simply. I would've thought it was orange.

"What about yours?" Luke asks me, edging closer to me as the conversation drags along.

I rub my chin and try to think. To be honest, I don't really know. "Purple." I shrug.

"How come?" Luke inquires.

"Just is, I guess." I tell him. "Anyway, a color is a color. If it looks nice, I like it. Purple looks nice."

"C'mon, really? I thought you would've given it more thought than that." Luke says as if he's disappointed in me. What did I do?

"Well, why do you like blue?"

"I like blue for a lotta reasons." He says. "It represents hope. Now that's somethin' you need in this world. It also shows loyalty an' confidence an' faith."

"Well, you certainly got the 'confidence' part right." I roll my eyes at him.

He gasped in shock. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He places his hands over his mouth and looks at me horrified. I start to giggle a little bit at him before switching back to my normal solemn mood.

"Ah. This is peaceful." He says, after a while of silence. "Haven't seen a single lurker in weeks. And most of the ones we have seen were harmless."

He was right. A decade after the apocalypse started, most people would've died and rotted many, many years ago. Their walking corpses rotting away so much flesh and bone that they can't stay up on their two dead feet anymore. They can barely even crawl on the mere ground. They simply weren't much of a threat anymore.

"Now, we just need to eat and drink and find shelter, and we'll be fine for a while. No walkers to come along and ruin everything." I nodded. This was going to be good. We'll all live as one little happy family peacefully, as cheesy as that sounds.

"So, Lurkers are out of the way..." He continues, rubbing his chin as he was deep in thought. "But what about people? Reckon there's anyone out there?"

I pout my lips and think. "Well, I think we're a handful of the people left on this earth. Haven't seen anyone in a while. Still, don't know for certain."

"True. But that might be 'cause we're always on the move." He added.

"Yup."

"Hm."

A strange silence surrounded us. We were looking at eachother, not breathing a single word. It felt weird. I'm not sure if I liked it or not.

"Well!" I exclaim, trying to break the awkward silence. "Let's uh, talk. About stuff." I just wanted to talk about anything at all, to be honest.

"Like?"

"Non serious stuff. I don't know."

"Hm..." Luke ran his hand through his glossy, chestnut-brown hair. His hair was nice. Might as well make a conversation about it.

"How's your hair so shiny?" I looked at it and felt the tip of his hair with my hands. It was so smooth and sleek, like he washed and conditioned it properly everyday. He appeared to be confused by my question.

"It's kind of just like that. Maybe it's the way I care for it, maybe my haircut, I don't even know." He stroked the top of his hair gently with his hand. It was so nice... I wish my hair was as nice as his.

"Maybe you could be my personal hairdresser then." I joked, still staring at his wonderful hair.

"If you insist." He bit the bottom of his lip. Why was he doing that...?

"Why are you nomming on your lip?" I nudged him in the side of his ribs. His smile washes away from his face suddenly, into more of a bewildered expression.

"Nothin'. It's nothin'." He says in a monotone. "C'mon, let's get to work." He starts walking ahead of me suddenly. The hell was he doing?

"The fu- Luke? Luke!" I cry after him.

Did I do something wrong?

* * *

Finding these dry twigs was like searching for a needle in a haystack. We'd been at it for hours. But I just gathered a few handfuls of dry twigs that would be good fuel to the fire. I'm just really dehydrated. I need this water now.

"Luke, we should go back now." I advise him.

"Shh." He hushes me. "You hear that?" He whispers quietly, beckoning me over.

"No." I respond in a hushed tone, slowly tip-toeing over to him. I stay completely silent and try to focus on whatever Luke said he had heard.

After a minute or so of listening, I hear a few barely audible sounds of twigs snapping from a distance.

"I heard it." I whisper. When I look off into the distance, I see a very small figure wandering around aimlessly. It looked like a little girl. "Look, Luke! A girl!"

"Holy shit." He says, his eyes fixated on the little girl in the distance. "We need to help that girl."

"No shit." I roll my eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." I say impatiently.

"Yeah. Just be careful. Could be with a group." He advises me, before taking off and running in the figures direction, as I follow behind.

We made our way closer to the figure. The figure had it's back facing us, but it was definitely a little girl. Possibly a toddler, at the very most. The young girl was wearing a long, dirty pink dress, covered in walker guts, with a short, cute, blond, messy bob. She looked pale and frail, with an abnormally skinny body. Very, very skinny. She looked as if he was bleeding heavily from her arm. Her body was slouched in a strange posture.

"Holy shit, she looks bad. We should take her in and fix her up." Luke suggests. I nod my head in agreement.

"Yeah, but we have to talk to her first." I say. We start to walk closer and closer to the little girl, 'til we were only a few metres away from her. Something about this seemed off. Why was a toddler alone in the woods? Nevertheless, she needed our help.

I take a deep breath, before reaching out my hand to her. "Hello...? Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. We want to help you. You look hurt. My name's Clemen..."

I stop talking when the toddler slowly shuffled her body around to face me. I felt shocked. Disgusted. And most of all, grief-stricken, as the little girl was no longer a human, but a walking corpse.

"No..." I whimper as I step away from the girl. She reaches out her skinny arms to try and grabs me, but ends up falling to the ground. Her legs cannot take her weight anymore. She couldn't even move anymore. This was just... I have no words for this. And the worst thing of all, she turned not so long ago. Her body wasn't rotting away, it looked fresh to say the least.

"Oh my- Fuck..." Luke stutters as he steps away from the undead girl. I feel my eyes water. It was inhumane to leave her like this. We needed to end this.

"W-we need to- We need to do the right thing, Luke..." I sniffed, gazing into Luke's brown eyes. They too, were glossed over with water. He was trying hard to fight back the tears, and so was I.

"Yeah. Yeah, we do." He gulped, running his hand through his hair. "Do you want me to do this? I mean, you shouldn't have to- You've done this too many times."

"I'm used to it by now." I try and convince myself that it was true, but it wasn't. I never adjusted to this world. I always had to force myself to survive, even when I didn't even want to keep going anymore. "I'll do it."

"You sure?" He asks. I give a small nod in response. "Okay... I'll - uh, leave you too it. I'll hold them sticks for you."

I pass him the handfuls of sticks I had from my hands into his.

Now I had to put this poor girl out of her misery.

I bend down to the little girls level. Her hands were waving in my face, but there was no way she was going to reach me or harm me. I take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry you had to go like this..." I talk to the undead girl, wondering how she died. I take a look at her arm to see a bullet lodged inside the arm, blood pouring out like fountains out of her arm. It was fresh blood. "Oh, god. Who would do such a thing to a girl like you? This is just horrible."

The girl let out high pitched groans and grumbles at me as she wavered her arms in the air, still trying to claw me. "This means we're not alone here. Whoever did this to you - If I find out who did it, I promise, they'll be dead before they can blink.." I tell the girl, before pulling the icepick out of the back of my jeans. "I'm sorry, little girl."

And with that, I jammed the icepick down into the girls head, her head slamming against the muddy ground as the blood sprayed out of her head like fountains. I couldn't bare to look at it anymore. No.

Taking the icepick out of the girls head, I look for some nearby flowers and place them decoratively around the girl's corpse. I got up, and started to walk away from the scene, resisting the urge to look over my shoulder constantly.

* * *

"You okay?" He asks with a concerned expression, as I brush past him gently, the girl's face still stuck in my mind.

"I'm fine." I lie through my teeth. I don't think that girl's face is ever going to leave my mind.

"You sure? You can talk to me, y'know." He says, but I shook my head in response.

"I'm fine." I repeated, still moving forward.

"Well uh, your hair's all messy. You want me to fix i-"

"I'm fine!" I growl at him. I never meant to come off that angry, it just happened. And I felt bad for it. Nevertheless, it silenced him.

It was silent for a long time, yet again. Luke decided to break the silence by whistling a nice tune. It was relaxing and tranquil.

"What song is that?" I ask.

"Mhm?" He looks at me, his lips still pouted. "Oh, that? Just an old song I used to sing."

My jaw drops. He sings?

"You sing?" I stare at him wide-eyed. He looks taken-aback for some reason. Today, his emotions are weird.

"Uhm, nope." He denies, crossing his arms in protest, but I now know the truth.

"Well, one day, I'm going to make you sing."

"We'll see about that."

"Hmph."

"Don't hmph me, gurl." He says, putting on a strong country accent.

"I'll hmph you if I want to, boi." I copy his accent. He smiles at me like he just succeeded at something ; Probably trying to cheer me up, before continuing to argue with me in a hill-billy accent.

"Don't call me boi, li'l lady."

"And don't call me li'l lady, boi."

"Well I just did, li'l lady.

"Shut yo mouth, boi."

"Nu-uh!"

"Yu-uh!"

We started giggling uncontrollably after that. Luke started laughing so hard that he keeled over and dropped all of the sticks out of his grasp.

"You're fucking stupid." I blurt out, before crouching down on the ground to help him pick up all the sticks he dropped.

"Sorry, I just act stupid when I'm tryn'a impress girls." Luke says without shame. I raise an eyebrow at his remark.

"You're trying to impress me?" I question him, still picking up the sticks.

"Don't let it get to your head. T'was a joke." He grins.

"Whatever." I huffed. "Here." I say, throwing the sticks into his hands.

"Why thank ya, li'l lady." He puts on his country accent and makes a strange face. He can act so weird sometimes.

"Shut up." I grin like an idiot. My cheeks hurt from laughing. Today has been a funny day, despite what happened with the girl... I haven't smiled this much in years.

"Would ya look at that. We're back already." Luke comments as we walk out of the forest into the open light. My eyes hurt from the sudden change in lighting, but slowly adjust. "Time goes fast when you're enjoyin' yourself, huh?"

"Shut up," I repeat again. Gosh, that should be my new catchphrase.

* * *

"Yay! They're back!" AJ runs up to us, excited to see his friends; And the wood, it seems, again. "We thought you died or something." AJ says without shame. Thanks, AJ.

"Thanks for havin' faith, kid." Luke ruffled AJ's hair before walking forward to Kenny. I stayed back with AJ. I felt like talking to him.

"Hey, AJ." I wave to him. He steps closer to me, before looking up at me with his huge, chocolate eyes.

"Hey, Clem." He says. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm good." I nod. "You thirsty, AJ?"

"Yes. I can't wait 'til Kenny gets that water pure." AJ nods back. "Hey, Clem?"

"What's up?" I say as he tugs at my hand.

He looks conflicted on something, but he opens his mouth to speak anyway. "When Kenny was distracted with something, I wandered off North. I wanted to look for some shelter." He tells me honestly.

"You know you shouldn't wander off like that, AJ." I scold him. "But did you find anything?" I ask eagerly, hoping for a positive answer.

"Yes!" He tugs on my hand gently. "I'll show you. C'mon."

I sigh heavily. I'm dehydrated and tired. "Maybe tomorrow, AJ. We should probably rest."

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry." He twists his foot into the muddy ground. I smile at him, resting my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll check it out later."

"You guys comin' or what?" Kenny calls out to us, beckoning us over. He and Luke were sitting around a little fire they created, Kenny holding the large metal pan over the fire.

"Comin'!" AJ calls out and runs over to the two, as I follow, mouth watering as I think of quenching my thirst.

"Final-fucking-ly! Somethin' to drink!" Kenny enthuses, staring at the bubbling water. There was so much water in that pan. "Right, now that it's boiled, we gotta let it cool."

"We could kill time by talkin'." Luke suggested, wrapping his arms around his knees. I've talked to him enough for one day. There's only so much Luke you can handle. "So, Clem..."

I prepare myself for whatever's going to happen next. "Yeah?"

"It seems like you're washin' up tonight." Luke reminds me, nudging me in the arm with a grin on his face. Ugh. Thank you for reminding me.

"Yaay." I say sarcastically and dig my chin into my knees. I'm so tired and yet I'm not allowed to sleep because Luke forced me to lose that race. Fuck him.

"And I get my own sleeping bag." AJ mentions. I wish they'd stop rubbing it in. I have to clean blood-splattered, sweaty old clothes instead of relaxing.

"Meanwhile, I get to sleep in a tight fuckin' sleepin' bag with Luke. Out of all the frickin' people." Kenny curses, as he returns to blowing the hot water in an attempt to cool it down quicker. Oh, you have it so hard, Kenny.

"Clem doesn't even have a sleepin' bag tonight. We should consider ourselves lucky."

"Sleepin' with you ain't lucky, Luke. I'd rather be in Clem's position." Kenny scoffs. Yes, please swap with me.

"We could swap." I perk my head up and ask, eagerly waiting for a response.

"Nah, that would be cruel." Kenny responds. You gotta be kidding me. "He'd poke you with his morning wood."

"Urgh, you're fucking disgusting." I clasp my hands over my mouth and hold back my gag. The thought of... That, sends shivers down my spine.

"Ha, well you're one to talk, Kenny. Remember that time when you poked me in the ey-"

"Shut up!" I hiss and clasp my hands over my ears to muffle out the conversation they were having. Seriously, those 'men' were pigs. Kenny really poked him in the eye with his..?

Oh, god. Ewww. _Ewww!_

"Is the water ready yet?" AJ steps in to save the day. The water looked hot and steamy, but it looked drinkable. Kenny turns his attention back to the water, dipping his finger in it to check the temperature.

"Nice an' warm." He smiled, licking his lips.

"I call dibs!" AJ raises his arms in the air with his eyes fixated on the water. Kenny gives in to his demands, passing the pan over carefully to AJ.

"Just watch out, now. Don't drink too much." Kenny watches him gulp the water down. AJ's lips separate from the pan, as he exhales, licking any water away from around his mouth.

We all take turns drinking from the pan until it was completely empty to the bottom. Our thirsts quenched, we all laid on the ground, staring off into space.

* * *

It's getting late. Must be around midnight, I'm guessing. The only thing I could hear was the sound of the fire crackling, and Kenny and AJ's light snoring. AJ was sleeping in his own bag, happy sprawled out inside of it. So was Kenny, too. But why was he by himself? Where was Luke? Bah, I don't care. I'm too tired to care. I feel my eyelids get heavy and my body completely relax, about to drift off into a deep slumber.

"Hey, Clem." Luke's figure stands above me, carrying a bunch of folded clothes under his arm. I groan and sit up from my comfortable position on the ground. What does he want now..?

"What's up?" I ask as if I'm interested, placing my hand in his. He whips me up from the ground onto my feet with his empty hand. I almost trip, but regain my balance.

"I just thought you'd like to go stargazin' with me." Luke suggests. Really? I didn't know how to respond.

"That's, uh... Sweet?" I struggle to find the right word for it.

"Woah, you think I'm sweet now?" He wiggled an eyebrow at me. Damnit, stop twisting my words.

"You know what I mean." I stare right at him, unamused. He seems to find it funny. Why does he find everything funny?

"Anyway, it was a joke. Sorta. You gonna wash our clothes? Y'know, since you lost the race." He reminds me. Oh my god, can I not get at least five minutes of sleep?

"I just want to get it over with. I want sleep." I rub the sleep away from my eyes and yawn.

"Okay. Kenny said the river would be okay to wash it in." He throws the pile of clothes towards me. I narrowly catch them before they land on the muddy ground. Reckless moron.

"Yeah, okay. Bye." I brush past him and start heading towards the edge of the river. It looks so serene. I might take a dip in it. I need to bathe, anyway.

"Hey, I'm coming with you." Luke declares before walking with me, side-by-side.

_You gotta be kidding me._

"I've had enough of you to last a life-time." I mutter under my breath. While I sometimes found his presence irritating, it was kind of... Comforting. He could make me smile in the darkest of times. He could make me forget about things I never want to think about ever.

"I know you like it."

"Pfft."

"Don't pfft me, li'l lady."

"Not this again."

"I'm just messin' with ya," He leans in closer to my ear. "Li'l lady."

"Shut up."

"Don't act like you don't find this hilarious."

"I don't." I lie through my teeth.

We came to a stop when we were on the edge of the river. It looks nice and cool. I have the urge to dive in, but I gotta wash these clothes, unfortunately.

I sit on the edge, letting my feet drop into the river. Icy cold. It kept me cool. I start unfolding the clothes and take Kenny's t-shirt, dipping it into the water.

"Tonight's a full moon." Luke comments as he looks up at the sky in awe. "One time, me and my li'l sister went on a boat with my dad on a full moon." He explains, his arms wrapped around his knees. Wait - He had a sister?

"You had a little sister?" I say, looking at him whilst still dunking the t-shirt underwater.

"Yeah. She, uh... I dunno if she's alive. She was at my gran's house when it started. I went to find 'em. My gran was a lurker. No sign of my sister, though." He stares into the water, looking at his own reflection. That was a depressing story.

"Maybe she's still out there. You can't give up hope." I reassure him, tossing Kenny's t-shirt to the side. I take the next set of clothes, continuing to wash them as I talk with Luke.

"Yeah. I like to think that way." He nods before turning to face me. "I don't think I'll find her. That's a one in a million chance. But thinking she's alive an' kickin'... It make's me happier, y'know? Gives me hope."

"Yeah." I say plainly. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person he's told this to. Makes me feel special in a sense.

Luke stares off into space as I continue to wash AJ and Kenny's clothes. He was silent for a change - It didn't feel right. After washing the clothes, I nudge Luke in the ribs to snap him out of his daze. He looks startled, but snaps out of it quickly.

"You.. Okay?" I feel concerned for him. Something doesn't feel right.

"Yeah, I'm good, I'm good. Just reflectin' on things." He pouts his lips and focuses his gaze on the ground.

"What are you thinking about?" I hope I don't sound like I'm prying.

"Oh, just the amount of times you've saved my ass." He shrugs and smiles. "Which is about, what, ten times now?" He holds his fingers up in the air and starts counting.

I felt awkward for some reason. Flustered. "Don't exaggerate." I faintly smile at him.

"You're so modest Clem." He laughs, shaking his head. His happy expression soon turns into a serious one, as he's staring into my eyes, his mouth forming a straight line and his eyes widened. "But, seriously. You're probably the reason I pulled through outta all this shit."

I feel flattered by his compliment. Gazing back at him, I decide to say something back to him. "You're the reason I'm here too."

"No, no I'm not. You're capable by yourself. I, I would've died ten times over if you weren't there to pull me up, to give me a reason to keep goin'." He tells me truthfully, and I can tell that he meant it. He had those adorable eye- Wait, did I just think he had adorable eyes?

"Well," I start to give my little speech about how he has always been there for me. Because everything that I'm going to say is true, and I mean every word of it. "Luke, you're wrong. You are the reason I'm here. And not just because YOU saved my ass about ten times, but because you're my best friend Luke, and I mean that. You're always there when I need a shoulder to cry on, someone to care for me, or just someone to talk to. You've always cared for me and I'll never forget that. Plus, your weird jokes can be funny. Sometimes."

Right, cheesy speech over.

Luke looks at me with a grateful expression. His smile was faint, but his eyes said it all.

"Well- Er, thank... Thanks, Clem." He stutters, obviously not sure of what to say.

"No need to thank me. I'm just reminding you of how much I appreciate you."

He gazed at me for awhile with his bold, chocolatey-coloured eyes, and I returned the gaze. I'm pretty sure I made him speechless. He doesn't realize how much I need him.

I feel my eyelids grow heavy again. Maybe it's time for a rest. "Well, I'm probably gonna go sleep by the campfire now." I swing my legs out of the water and onto land again. "Night-"

"Wait, Clem." Luke grabs me by the wrist just as I'm about to leave. Wondering what he wants, I sit back down on the ground, my body facing his.

"Yep?" I eagerly await for him to say something. He didn't say anything. After a few seconds of him in complete silence, I started to grow concerned. "Luke, you okay?"

And he didn't respond. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything, I felt an unfamiliar warmth on my lips. I had no idea what was happening. Everything was a blur. After a few seconds, I made sense of the situation.

His lips were on top of mine. And I didn't fight it. I couldn't. It felt too good. I wanted it. I felt as if time came to a stop. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I forced the kiss to go deeper and deeper. Our lips were fast on each others, and it didn't slow down - Not one bit. His lips were moving around in circles as if they were massaging mine. I couldn't get enough. I felt my heart racing as if it was to burst out of my chest at any moment. My arms were running up and down his back and my legs wrapped around his waist. My heart was swelling, my eyes shut tight. I felt his arms running up and down my body frantically, causing a tingling sensation I've never felt before. I've never been touched like this. And I loved it.

And then, my lungs were begging for oxygen.

We tore apart when we were gasping for air. I caught my breath after whatever just happened, feeling light-headed and nauseous. And only then did it just sink in.

We kissed. _We fucking kissed._

And I... I liked it. And for some reason, it triggered something inside me.

I think I might like Luke.

But Luke was shocked. His eyes were widened and his eyebrows shot up. His jaw was dropped. His body was stiff. He frantically shuffled away from me like I was some sort of monster. Did I do something wrong? What did I do?

"Oh my god, Clem, I-" He planted his face into his palms. "This is my fault I should'v- This never happened, okay?"

"Did I do something wrong?" I murmur quietly. I felt embarrassed. Was I not good at it?

"No!" He exclaims, his head still buried in his palms. "It's me. I shouldn't have done that. It's digustin'. I'm so, so sorry."

I look at him confused. "I... Don't see what was wrong with it." He was my closest friend. Now that the kiss happened; I think I have realised that I like him a bit more.

"Because, Clem," He shuffles closer to me slightly, his eyes locked on the ground, "It ain't right. You're too young for an old man like me."

"Oh, _sorry_, I wasn't aware that being over the age of 21 classified as '_being too young for you_'." I frown and start messing with my fingers awkwardly.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He seems stressed. "I know, I know how old you are now, Clem. But I met you when you were what, twelve? I watched you age. When I met you, you weren't even a teenager. Now, I can't even fuckin' control myself over things like this. It's just wrong, okay?"

I sigh in frustration. I do understand where he's coming from. But I'm not a little girl anymore. "Listen, Luke. I'm aware that you've known me since I was a little girl. But please, realise that I'm not twelve years old anymore. I'm twenty one Luke, going on twenty two in a couple of months. I used to be twelve. But I'm not anymore, get it? It was almost ten whole years ago."

His face is displaying conflicted emotions. Honestly, he looks as if he just wants to curl up into a ball and hide away forever under a rock. Finally, he opens his mouth to speak. "It still feels weird, though, Clem. You're probably right. But still... I, er, I need time to think about this. Can you give me time?" He asks me, finally making eye contact with me.

"Yes." I say simply. At least he's considering it. It's good enough for me.

"Thanks. Well, er, I'm gonna go sleep. See you tomorrow..." He mumbles quietly, slowly clambering to his feet and walking away from me.

I hope I didn't make things weird between us. All that kissing got my adrenaline pumping, and I'm no longer tired.

I might go and look for that shelter AJ was talking about.

Yeah.

Let's do it.

* * *

Making sure I didn't forget anything - My icepick, gun, rucksack incase I find anything useful.. That's basically all I need.

I tip-toe away from the small campfire we set up tonight to try and not wake anyone up. Straight into the woods we go, then. AJ said it was straight up North. Couldn't be that far.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of sludging through the woods, there was finally a visible exit. The full moon seemed to help create a path leading from my position out into the open.

"Why thank you, moon." I whisper to myself as I follow the path of light out of the woods and into the open. Yet again am I blinded by the light shining into my eyes.

As my eyes adjust to the light of the moon, I can make out a house - A cabin, maybe? I don't know the difference - In the distance. Woah. A cabin. Nostalgia.

That sounds like a pretty safe haven!

A cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Curiosity gets the better of me, and I start running towards the cabin as if my life depended on it. It looks untouched. Like, literally. Let's see if the inside is as impressing as the outside.

It was surrounded by a small, pointy brown fence and right in front of me was a gate. I quietly pushed it open.

_CREAK._

So much for being discreet.

There was a slippery, cobbly path leading up to the cozy-looking house. I followed it right up to the door.

_Knock knock knock knock knock - knock knock._

Hmph. No response. No lights on, untouched cabin in the middle of nowhere, it could only mean one thing.

The cabin was up for taking.

Hell, yes.

I twisted the sleek, golden knob on the front door. The door automatically opened. Whoever used to own this house forgot to lock the door... I'm not complaining.

I step inside. And the first thing I feel is the soft, fluffy carpet under my sneakers.

So much nostalgia.

Closing the door after me, I scan my surroundings. It looks very similar to the old cabin. Paintings were displayed on the wall. Wilted, crispy flowers were in a vase on a window pane. The next thing I notice is that there are several doors and a staircase were surrounding me. Where to start first...

I decide to start by going to the closest door to me on the left. I carelessly open the door this time, causing it to slam against the wall. Oh well, it looks like no one's home anyway.

Taking a step inside, it appears to look like some sort of living room. There were sofas that I literally wanted to sit on right now to cure my horrible back-aches right now, a cute little coffee table in the middle of the room, and a crappy little TV in the corner. I really, really want to watch TV.

Maybe I should try and find the kitchen to see if there's any canned foods that haven't expired yet. Kenny could probably make some sort of fishing net or fishing rod since he's a "Commercial fisherman, who catches dolphins", but I can't wait that long. My stomach needs something to fill it, and I'm sure that goes for Kenny, AJ and... Luke. The mention of his name makes my heart speed up a bit. Is that normal?

Thoughts aside, I charge into the next room. Just a dining room. Looks classy, though. A huge table with about eight wooden chairs surrounding it.

Okay, need to find the kitchen.

Going to the next door, I slowly twist the knob. Third time lucky...?

Peeping inside, it's extremely dark, but I manage to make out the image of a stove, a fridge, and a few shelves. It must be the kitchen.

I jump inside and start looting the shelves for anything. Junk, junk, junk...

Oooh, some salt. Might make the horrible food taste a tiny bit nicer. As I continue to loot the shelves, I think I've found something I've been craving for a long, long time. I think it's... Sugar! Mmhm. I miss the taste of sweet stuff. I can't help myself but to open the top of the packet and take a handful of the grains, filling my mouth with the sugar.

Wait.

That's _not_ sugar.

_It's salt._

I spit the revolting taste of salt out onto the floor beneath me, wiping the remaining grains from my tongue. Eurgh, that was the equivalent to drinking sea water, just ten times worse. I can still feel the horrible taste linger in my mouth. I pop the bag of salt into my rucksack before continuing to scavenge the shelves.

Wow, there's a lot here. Dried pasta, cans of meat and beans, honey... And even a bottle of whiskey. I pop them all into my rucksack. Now that my scavenge is complete, It's probably time to go back now.

"_Don't you fucking move_."

Holy shit. There's someone behind me - Sounds like a woman. I feel something cold and metal press against the back of my head. Looks like my assumption that the house was empty wasn't a very good one. _"Drop the bag._" The woman - Who sounded strangely familiar, for some reason, demands. I let the bag drop from my shoulder onto the floor, spilling all the contents onto the floor. _"Fucking little scavenger."_ I hear the woman tut. _"Turn around."_

I keep my gaze focused on the floor as I rotate my body slowly. I don't want to even take a look at the person who's probably going to murder me. I feel too scared to do so. "**Holy shit.**" I hear the woman gasp, dropping the gun. "Is that.. Is that actually you, Clementine?"

"What...?" I feel confused. Does this woman know me?

I slowly raise my head and open my eyes to get a look at the woman. And as soon as my eyes fell upon her, I knew who she was.

I gulp, taking a step back from her in disbelief. It's impossible. It can't be -

"Lilly."

_**Thank you for reading! Again, I'm so sorry for making you wait so long. Please, post a review! I'm going to reply to every one of them. Also, I'm going to do a shout out every chapter that's uploaded, where I post the review that means the most to me. So it's kind of a shout out. **_

_**Storyline has the same major plot points, but some characters have been removed and added (I added way too many OC's, I kept your guy's OC's and got rid of most of mine). You'll also meet some of the OC's sooner on. Have you checked out the new cover? In the background is the main antagonist for the series. No, it's not the Governor anymore. I want things to be as canon as possible (Even though Luke dies :c And this is a fanfiction...) But yeah. Please review! I reply to each one.**_

_**Bye, my fellow survivors! (Oh god that isn't going to become a thing is it..)**_


	2. A Blood Bath

_"Holy shit."_

Lilly gapes at me in complete disbelief, not believing her very own eyes. I return the same shocked expression. I really can't believe it's her... The chances of meeting this woman again were million to one. No, more like, a billion to one.

And here we are, ogling at each other, speechless.

Another old face comes to haunt me again, eh?

It was so strange how Lilly still looked like her old self from all those years ago. Although she looked older, probably in her mid 30's, her bold brown eyes which, quite frankly, scared the shit out of me whenever she gave someone a menacing glare - Usually Kenny, make her instantly recognizable. The only thing that looked different about the woman was that her brown hair was messy and shorter than it used to be; Everything else was pretty much the same.

I don't think I would've remembered the woman if it weren't for the fact that she straight up murdered Carley right in front of my eyes, a woman I looked up to as almost a motherly figure.

_I remember arguing and yelling and shrieking; Lots of it. I stood at the entrance of the RV as the group argued about something; If I'm correct, I think it was about supplies being stolen, something about someone betraying our group. And I remember the sudden gunshot that came out of nowhere - A bullet that went straight through Carley's head. Her lifeless body smacked against the solid ground, oceans of blood oozing from her head. Looking up in complete horror, I saw Lilly holding a gun in her hand, looking at the corpse with no remorse. _

Lilly looked after me when I was a child. I remember her keeping an eye out for me, making sure I was completely safe from walkers. She'd always come over and talk to me when I was drawing something and compliment my masterpieces. Hell, she'd even gave me these hairclips I still wear to tie my hair in bunches to this day.

Despite our previous friendship, Lilly feels like a complete stranger to me now. Maybe if it weren't for the incident that occured... I shake the distasteful thought off and try to focus on the present instead of dwelling on the past.

I open my mouth to speak when a door creeks open from behind Lilly - An woman with a rifle came running over. She stood by Lilly's side and, noticing me, immediately raises the rifle at my head.

"Who the _fuck_ are **you**?" The woman hissed aggressively at me. She was barely visible in the dim lighting of the room, but I could see a pair of squinty brown eyes, very similar to Lilly's, glaring at me coldly. I return the same threatening look, showing that I wasn't intimidated by the woman. The only reason I was staying quiet was to see if Lilly would intervene. "Answer me! Are you working for _**them**_?!" She growled at me, taking a step forward and pointing the gun in my face. Working for _who_?

"Quinn, put the fucking gun down." Lilly demanded in a low, raspy voice. Thank you, Lilly! At least I know she doesn't want me dead.

'_Quinn_' looked at her a little bit baffled. Before she could protest, Lilly spoke over her. "Right now."

Quinn lowered her head as if she were ashamed of herself and placed the rifle on the kitchen counter. Lilly frowned at the woman, before switching her gaze back to me. Her expression turned soft as she looked at me. Some of the shock had worn off, but not entirely.

"Clem... Shit." She began, not knowing where to start. I don't blame the woman; I think I was equally as shocked "How many years has it been?"

"Must've been around ten." I state. Looking at Quinn, she appeared confused; Like, really, _really_ confused.

"Wait, so you know this woman, Lilly?" Quinn intervenes, scratching the top of her scalp as she speaks. "I mean, she's barely an adult... And, if you knew her ten years ago, she must've been a child. So, uh, how do you recognize her?"

Lilly gives a ghost of a smile. "Well, when I saw the hat, I thought I recognized it from somewhere. Can't believe you still wear that thing..." Lilly mumbles, before looking at my messy pigtails. "I gave those pink hairclips to you. They were mine, but I gave them to you because I figured that you'd find them more useful. I'm surprised you still have them."

"Well, they are quite useful." I give her a faint smile. I wondered how she recognized me; Now, I know

Despite us knowing each other in the past, we felt like complete strangers. I could sense the awkwardness in the air.

Lilly was a murderer. But she killed Carley so many years ago... Maybe she changed. She wasn't mentally stable at the time of Carley's murder. Looking at her now, she seems like she's actually sane.

Kenny murdered Larry right in front of her. He dropped a fucking saltlick on her father's head. Kenny was a murder too; When Lee was giving Larry CPR, I saw his eyes shoot open and his body jolt forward as he exhaled; But Kenny dropped a salt lick on his head, ending his life. Yet he was forgiven. Why shouldn't I give Lilly a chance too?

Wait, shit. What if Kenny and Lilly meet again? What will happen? I wonder if Lilly will forgive Kenny for his actions... Probably not. If I was in Lilly's shoes, I definitely wouldn't.

"Quinn, go check up on everyone upstairs, make sure they're still all their rooms." Lilly turned her head to face Quinn. Oh, so there's other people here. Looks like Lilly's still playing the leader role. "We caused a lot of sound down here. It might've made them nervous... We don't want to worry them. They're still all on edge about what's happening. Oh, and can you light those candles? I can't see a thing in here."

Lilly's eyes followed Quinn as she pulled out a lighter from the drawers and lit up the candles. The dim room was now illuminated with light, and I could fully Lilly now.

Quinn left the room, shutting the door behind her. Once the door was slam shut, Lilly slowly turns her head to face me. She probably had a lot of questions.

"Are you all by yourself?" Lilly asks, looking down at the huge bag of supplies that I had just attempted to steal from them. "By the looks of things, you've got a group. All that food would last a _single_ person a lifetime."

I shake my head, slowly placing my bag on the kitchen counter. "No, I'm not. I'm with a few others. Three people, to be exact."

"Hm?" Lilly's eyebrow quirked up. "Who's with you? Anyone that I used to know?"

"Crap. Uhm, well..." I mutter to myself, remembering the whole '_Kenny Vs Lilly'_ power struggle. Lilly might still be holding a grudge about that; After all, Kenny did kind of crush her dad's head with a salt lick as Lee and her tried to resuscitate him. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for these two to reunite. "Uhm, there is one that you probably remember..." I bite down on my lip as she looks at me expectantly, wanting me to carry on. I let out a huff and decide to tell her. No point in keeping it from her, "You remember Kenny?"

"You gotta be fucking kidding..." She groans, placing a hand on her head. "That prick? Why is he still alive? I thought Lee would've killed the bastard by now. I wonder why he didn't." She pinches the bridge of her nose and slowly shakes her head at the distasteful thought of Kenny. She clearly still hates him. "Wait - Speaking of Lee, is he..."

"Lee's dead." I sigh, memories of the man who taught me how to survive flooding back into my mind. Not a single day goes by when I'm not reminded of him in some way.

"Oh..." She looks at me sadly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Clem, I'm sorry."

I smile faintly and show my appreciation. "Thanks." Condolences don't really mean anything to me nowadays, but it feels nice to know that she genuinely cares.

Suddenly, the door slams open, causing myself and Lilly to jump out of our skins - Quinn comes wandering through again, grinning at Lilly as she stands beside her.

Why can't she close the door like a normal person?

Now that the room was lit up, I could see Quinn perfectly. Must be in her mid 20's. She's obviously from Asian descent. She has almond shaped eyes, a defined jaw shape and protruding cheekbones. Her nose is small and pointy. She has thick lips which make her look as if shes' permanently pouting. Her long messy black hair is tied in a loose side ponytail, strands of curly hair in her face. She actually looks quite beautiful.

"Everyone's still asleep." Quinn states somewhat proudly, curling the ends of her ponytail around her fingers.

"Thanks, Quinn." Lilly smiles and pats the woman gently on the shoulder.

"No problem." Quinn smiles back, before slowly turning her head to me. Looks like she wanted to say something. "Clem, is it? I'm so, so sorry for y'know, pointing a rifle at your head, and sayin' all of that shit. It's just that... We're all on edge, especially after what's been happening lately. It's just... I thought you were working for another group of people. I hope you can forgive me." Quinn apologizes, and I can tell it's sincere. Quinn looks like a nice woman. She just seems anxious about something...

"It's okay. You were trying to protect your people. I get it." I accept the apology from Quinn, giving her a faint smile. She looks at me gratefully, glad to know that we're on friendly terms.

**Thud**.

Woah. What the hell was that?

**Thud**.

Sounds like it's coming from the front door. Someone - Or something, is banging on it.

**Thud.**

I see Quinn instinctively grab the rifle from the kitchen counter and glance at Lilly anxiously, who was returning the same worried expression. Damn, I wonder what's making them so nervous...

**Thud**.

Lilly and Quinn flinch at the sound. Sweat droplets are forming on their foreheads as they look at each other helplessly. Whatever's going on must be really bad; Especially since Lilly's terrified. That woman's barely scared of anything.

"Do you reckon it's them?" Lilly asks in a hushed tone. Quinn slowly nods, biting down on her bottom lip nervously. Furrowing my brows, I look at them confused. If they're so scared, I might as well deal with it myself to get this crap over with.

"I'll deal with this." I mutter, pulling out the pistol from my back pocket. Lilly and Quinn look at me concerned. "Look, just go hide or something." I sigh, making sure the pistol had bullets in. It probably wasn't even anyone - Probably the wind, or something banging against the door. "If it's a person, I'll put a bullet in their heads before they can react. Just - If you're so scared, hide upstairs and protect your people. I'll handle it."

"You sure about this, Clem?" Quinn asks, looking as if she's having a panic attack.

**Thud.**

"Yes." I sigh and nod my head. They didn't need telling twice - They both nod and wander out of the room, as I prepare myself to face whatever's outside that door.

* * *

**Thud.**

I take in a deep breath and exit the kitchen, into the corridor. The strong gusts from the outside world cause a haunting 'swoosh' sound, sending shivers up my spine.

**Thud.**

The floorboard creek underneath my feet as I get closer and closer to the front door.

**THUD.**

It's so much more audible than before. It felt kind of... Eerie.

_**THUD. THUD.**_

Taking a deep breath, I place my trembling hand on the door handle. Holding a gun up, I point it forward, slowly pushing the door handle down, prepared for anything that could pop out at me.

Slowly opening the creeking door, the strong winds blast through the gap in the doorway, send an empty garbage can slowly rolling to my feet.

_Ugh._

I got so worried about a fucking garbage can?

Shaking my head, I sigh and pick the can up and take a step outside in the freezing cold. The sky's still pitch black - Luke, AJ And Kenny will still be hopefully be asleep, so I can make it back on time before the sun rises and act as if nothing happened.

Lazily tossing the can on the ground, I stepping backwards inside the house, swivelling around to see a girl standing right in front of me.

"_Holy sh_-" I yelp, jumping from fright as the little girl sways around shyly, a little cheeky grin on her face.

"Sorry!" She giggles, clasping a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter.

_D'aww..._

The cute little girl, who must be around five or six, has jet-blonde hair tied into a tiny ponytail. The few strands of her messy hair that escaped from her ponytail blow back in the wind. Her huge, wide blue eyes gaze up at me, and her thin lips form a grin. Her nose is like a cute little button. She's wearing a dark purple hoodie and a pink dress under it, and small cow-girl boots, which actually look quite sassy and stylish.

"Hey there," I smile and wave at the little girl, trying to create a good first-impression for the little girl . "What's your name?"

"I'm Willow." She said in a high-pitched voice. I feel like my heart is melting. Is it even possible to be this adorable? "What's yours?" She asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I'm Clementine." I introduce myself to _'Willow',_ kneeling down to her level. "Nice to meet you, Willow." I smile warmly at her.

Now, as much as I'd like to talk to the girl, it'd probably be sensible if I sent her back to her room. How did she even get out of her room, anyway? I thought Lilly and Quinn were keeping everybody upstairs.

Such a great job they're doing...

"Why aren't you in your room, Willow? I thought Lilly and Quinn were supposed to be keeping you safe upstairs"

"Well, I could hear you saying stuff from in my room, and I had never heard your voice before. I came to see if you were a good person, so I crawled out when Lilly and Quinn were looking away." Willow tells me, biting down on her fingernails. "There are bad people chasing us, and..." She pauses mid-sentence, looking behind me, wide-eyed.

Uh-oh.

Something was behind me.

"Eek! Bad guy!"

_Shit_.

I swivel my body around to see a man - A huge man, actually, standing behind me - A menacing grin on his face.

"Aw, looks like I've found you, Willow. Oh, and have you got a new playmate?" The man says with an amused expression, clenching his fists together as his gaze switches from Willow to myself. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."

I should've closed the fucking door. Damnit.

But there's no way I'm going to let that evil man lay a finger on the poor girl.

There was no time to dwell - I pull a gun on the muscular guy. The gun is whacked out of my hand almost instantly, but not before I manage to pull the trigger. The bullet enters the man's shoulder, sending him staggering back in agony.

"Ah, fuckin' li'l bitch!" He curses, holding his wound. the blood seeping through the gaps between his fingers. I took the opportunity to grab the gun from the floor.

All of a sudden, I feel a blunt yet intense pain spread through my hand.

**CRACK.**

I let out a cry as he grinds my hand under his foot, feeling every individual bone in my hand crack and shatter.

**SNAP.**

It's torturing me! My vision becomes blinded with stinging tears from the pain;I can't take it any more!

I try and grab the gun with my right hand, only for him to kick the gun away with his free foot, sliding across the sleek wooden floor.

"Help! Someone!" The innocent Willow shrieks, watching the horrible scene unfold right infront of her own two eyes. Where the fuck's Lilly and Quinn?!

Trying to get him off of my hand, I switch to a last resort - I sink my teeth into his leg, feeling my mouth fill with warm blood.

_"W-what the fuck?!"_

I'm like a wild dog, biting and tearing at my prey, hearing him scream and yell for me to stop. He flails his legs and cries in absolute agony before finally releasing me from under his foot.

"_Augh, god! P-please let go! Fuck! Please, just stop! You fuckin' animal!"_

I ignore his pleas for me to let go as I dig my teeth in as far as I could and tear a huge chunk of his flesh out of his calf. Fountains of hot blood squirt all over my face and my body as I spit the distasteful flesh out of my mouth and to the side. All I could taste in my mouth was the metallic flavour of blood.

"_O-oh my god - W-what did you..._" The man stumbles back in absolute shock, covered in his own blood from head to toe. The man is pale from the blood loss - I hit an artery, condemning him to death. "_What the.. Fuck did yo- You_ _fucking... Pysch_-"

That's when a horrible ringing noise went through my ears - And now, I'm soaked in even more blood. His lifeless body ansmacks against the wooden floor.

"Oh my god..." I hear someone murmur. Looking up, I saw two blurry figures - Squinting my eyes, I manage to make out Lilly standing beside Willow, hands clasped over her mouth.

I pant heavily, rubbing the blood away from eyes with my hands - But the horrible, agonising pain that shot through me when using my left hand caused me to let out a whimper. It feels like my hand has it's own heartbeat - Every pulse shoots a horrible pain through me.

"Clementine..." I hear Lilly's footsteps, as I rub my eyes to fix my blurry vision with a single hand. She must've shot that guy in the head and put him out of his misery. "What the fuck just went down here..?"

"I think I-" I struggle to speak, trying to slowly regain my sanity.

Did I ... Bite a chunk of his leg out? I have problems, that's for sure... I couldn't even control that - It was just instincts. Adrenaline was pumping around my body and -

And I couldn't help it.

I feel like an animal.

I glance at Lilly as she looks down at me, mortified by my appearance. I'm literally painted in blood.

"Oh my god-" She clasps her hands over her mouth. "What the fuck happened?! Clem!?"

"I-I don't know..." I stutter, feeling disgusted with myself. How could I do that? I'm insane!

"How could you not know!?" She shrieks, on the verge of screaming, nervously running her hands through her hair. "This guy's got a chunk of his leg missing, a bullet in his shoulder and one directly in his head!"

Wait.. I didn't shoot him in the head.

"In the head?" I repeat, clambering to my feet. I spit out the remains of chunky flesh in my mouth before looking at the body on the ground. He indeed had a bullet perfectly placed in the center of his forehead.

"You didn't do that?" Lilly says, a little bit baffled.

I slowly shake my head and furrow my brows. "No..." I say, puzzled. If she didn't pull the trigger, then who did?

Wait...

My eyes widen in both shock and awe as I slowly turn my head to see Willow, smiling proudly as if she had just achieved something, holding my gun in her hand.

_"We make a good team, Clementine_!"

* * *

Finally! I uploaded!

I am so, so fucking sorry I made everyone wait 3 months for this chapter. I just kept forgetting about it and stuff... but I finally did it!

Chapters will be uploaded weekly, don't worry. And I'm sorry for no Luke this chapter ;-; originally in this chaptwr, Clem was going to head back to her own group, but I had a deadline to finish this chapter today. Plus, I think it's long enough!

Since my brains dead, I'm willing to take your ideas to put in the story - from comical, to serious, I'll read and consider them all! :3 again, thank you so much for waiting. I also want to shout out leafs nation- his writing inspired me to continue this fiction. His stories are so amazing - please read them!

Please fav, follow and review! I read and reply to every single feel free to pm me!

Expect a new chapter next week - see ya later, and stay tuned! :3


	3. Face To Face

Can I help? Pretty please?"

"No. Clementine's fine, Willow." Lilly sighs and shakes her head, placing me down on the sofa in the living room. Willow keeps insisting that she should help fix my hand, or at least wash the blood away from my face. Lilly's visibly irritated by the little girl's desire to help me; Personally, I find it kind of cute. "For the billionth time, Cain's going to sort it out. He's an actual doctor. Quinn's gone upstairs to get him." She pinches her nose as she paces around the room, trying to get away from Willow, as the little girl trails behind her.

"Well, can I help Cain? Please, Lilly..." She sticks out her bottom lip and tugs at Lilly's jacket. "I know I'm only little, but please. I don't want to be useless. I want to help out. And you could let me help out by letting me help Cain. _Pleaaaase_?"

Letting out a loud huff, Lilly rolls her eyes, biting down hard on her tongue to contain whatever profanities are going to escape from her mouth. She's probably had enough of this little girl to last a lifetime. I watch in amusement as Lilly comes to a halt, turning around and crouching down so that she was face-to-face with Willow.

"Fine." She sighs, giving into her demands. Willow smiles ecstatically and bounces around on the spot. _Aww_.

It's hard to think that she could shoot a man straight in the head with no remorse, especially at her age. It's another thing to be proud of it.

"Really? Yay! Thank you, Lilly!"

"Whatever," Lilly rolls her eyes and stands herself up straight again, before glancing at me from over her shoulder. "She's got a soft spot for you. Strange."

I chuckle softly and nod, agreeing with her. "Yup." I say simply. Very strange, indeed.

Our conversation was interrupted with the the sound of the door creaking. Glancing toward the door, I see a man carrying a green box marked with a plus sign in his left hand. The man's tall - Around 6'4 or 6'5, with a muscular body shape. He looks around the age of 40, maybe a little older. His eyes are quite down turned and deep set, although the color of his piercing, ice-blue eyes are still very visible, even from a distance. His nose is broad, with the tip of the nose slightly drooping. His bottom lip is thicker in comparison to his upper, his mouth forming a straight line. His short dark-brown ruffly bedhead is tinted with streaks of grey, with light stubble above his lip and around the bottom half of his rounded face. Is this guy seriously a doctor? He looks more like a spartan or something.

The man - Cain, I think, focuses his gaze on me. He quirks an eyebrow and gives a little side-smirk.

"Who's this, Lilly?" He ruffles the top of his messy head, seemingly unaffected by the sight of me. What's up with that? I'm coated in another person's blood, for Christ's sake! Before Lilly can say anything, I decide to answer for myself - _For once_.

"I'm the woman who needs you to fix my hand." I say sassily, holding up my injured hand for him to see. I cringe as I take a quick glance at it before looking away, disgusted. My whole hand's blown up like a balloon, sliced open, blood pouring out of the wounds. Now that I'm aware of how bad it actually is, it makes the pain worse.

A _whole_ lot worse.

"Ouch." Cain sucks air through his teeth as he wanders over to where I'm sat, biting down on his lip. "How in the world did you do this?"

"Long story." I sigh heavily, shaking my head at the distasteful thought of the encounter with the man. He raises his eyebrows at me.

"Go on," He persists, sitting down besides me on the sofa, observing my hand closer. "Elaborate."

"Well," I begin, disgusted at the memory of the sound of my hand breaking and cracking. "There was a constant '_Thud_' sound at the door. Since Lilly and Quinn were paranoid about something, I decided to check it out myself."

"Yeah! And then some guy came." Willow interrupts, skipping over and standing next to Cain, catching his attention. "One of the bad men. And he said something bad, and then Clementine and the bad guy started fighting."

Cain pauses for a second, raising an eyebrow at Willow.

"They came?" He asks, before resuming to examine my fucked-up hand. Willow nodded quickly, her hair bouncing up and down. "Hmph. How did you handle it, Clementine? I mean, as I can tell, it was... Bloody." He points out, noticing all the blood I'm soaked in.

"I pulled out my gun and tried to shoot him, but it only got his shoulder. He whacked the gun out of my hand and onto the floor. I saw the perfect opportunity to get it, when..." I pause, trying my best not to think of the sounds that make me cringe every time I recall them. "He stomped down on my hand and... Pretty much crushed my hand under his foot."

"And I shot him, didn't I, Clem?" Willow smiles with glee, placing her hands on her hips with pride.

Does this girl have issues? I mean,_ gee.._.

"That's not something to be proud of, Willow!" Lilly scolds, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest, scowling at the girl. Willow doesn't seem affected, and simply shrugs Lilly off.

"If I saved Clementine, then I should be proud. And you should be happy with me for shooting the bad man." Willow remarks, pouting her lips and turning away from Lilly. She has a pretty valid point. She did save my life. I mean, the man was bound to bleed out, since I tore a chunk of his leg out with my teeth. But he would slowly and eventually bleed out. He could've killed me in the time that he had left.

Lilly shakes her head and scowls yet again, opening her mouth to speak. "I know, but-"

"Hey Willow, why don't you get some wet cloth to help get all this mucky stuff off with?" I step in and try to quell the argument, smiling faintly at Willow. I could hear Lilly groan, followed by the door creaking open - She must've left out of annoyance.

"Really?! Yes! I will do that!" She smiles ecstatically, before quickly taking off on her little legs and bolting out of the room to go and retrieve some towels. I can't help but let out an '_Aww_', before turning back to face Cain.

"That girl acts so innocent at times," He begins, placing his green medical kit on the table and unclasping the box, revealing a bunch of medical equipment to me. "It's hard to believe that she's capable of... Such bad things."

"She didn't do a bad thing." I mutter, watching him grab a roll of bandages. That girl's definitely not a bad person. "She pretty much saved my life. It's just that, she felt no remorse doing it. She was proud of shooting that man."

Cain slowly nods in agreement, listening to me speak. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. You're right. Probably." He sighs, unravelling the roll. "Willow's not a bad girl; She has good intentions. Very mature for her age. It's just that, well, she's not afraid of anything. She's a fearless, feisty girl, who's not afraid to look danger in the eye. That's the thing - She's doesn't hesitate. Never backs down. Never cries. And that's what could get her killed."

I pout my lips, not able to think of anything else to say, and hold my hand out for him to fix - Probably needs a few bones putting back in place. He's got a point; If Willow doesn't back down from a dangerous situation, well... There's nothing down for the little girl.

But I'll make sure that won't happen.

"Well, your hand definitely needs stitches, that's for sure." He mumbles, trying his best not to hurt me as he delicately takes my hand and observes it. It's sensitive to the touch, but I've experienced much worse.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through my hand.

"Ow!" I suck the air in through my teeth as he pokes at my hand. Quirking an eyebrow, he looks up in thought for a second, before coming to a conclusion.

"Some of the bones in your hand are displaced. I'm going to need to fix that, too." He ruffles the top of his messy hair, slowly taking some scary looking equipment from his box.

Oh, boy.

This is gonna suck.

* * *

After about thirty minutes, the _(very, very painful_) procedure was over. Thank god for that. My hand's now disinfected, stitched-up, and wrapped tightly in a splint. Willow was standing beside me, wiping the blood and sweat from my body, patting me on the back to make sure that I was okay.

"Thank you, Cain. And you too, Willow." I thank them both, smiling faintly. Cain nods and returns a ghost of a smile, before packing his stuff away and standing up from beside me.

"I should probably check up on Lainey and Thomas, see how they're doing." He mutters more to himself than me. I don't know who they are; Must be some of the others in this group.

"Do you need help, Cain?" Willow asks, swaying side to side innocently. Even this quiet, reserved guy has a soft spot for Willow; You can see it in his eyes.

"No, it's okay, Willow. But thank you for offering." He pats her on the head, before looking outside the window. "Besides, it's getting light now. Maybe around four, five AM? You haven't had much sleep, Willow."

Wait -

No, it can't be that time already...

I need to get back to Luke, Kenny and AJ. Like, right now.

"I- I gotta go." I stutter as my heart pounds in my chest, jumping up from the sofa and grabbing my rucksack from the floor. Swinging it over my shoulder, I jolt toward the door.

What happens if they wake up and I'm not there?

"But, _Clem_!" I hear Willow whimper sadly. I feel bad for her, but seriously, I got to go.

"I'm so sorry, Willow. But I have people; My friends, they're out there. I need to get back to them now." I run a hand through my curly black hair nervously, feeling as if I'm having a panic attack. "But- But don't worry, okay? I'm going to come back. With my friends." I say to satisfy Willow, although I'm not sure if that's true or not. I mean, I would definitely come back if it weren't for the whole Kenny vs Lilly situation.

I guess they'll just have to make a compromise or something. Or maybe, after so many years, they'll finally drop it. After all, it has been over a decade since shit went down.

"O-okay, Clem."

I've not got time to waste. I don't delay on getting the hell out of there and back to my own people.

* * *

_Run._

I keep telling myself to run. No matter how tired I feel, no matter how sweaty I am, no matter how dehydrated, I can do nothing but run. My legs can barely take it, but I keep going.

I don't want them to wake up, to see me gone. They'll have a panic attack. They might be risking their lives in the woods to try and find me.

What happens if they're already awake?

Looking forward, I recognize these familiar surroundings perfectly; The floor dampens slightly with every step I take, and the light at the end of the woods is getting closer and closer. It's not even far.

It only pushes me to go faster and faster. My body cries for me to stop, but the satisfaction of seeing my friends safe and sounds is so worth it; Kenny, AJ, And... Luke.

It feels so strange when I think of Luke, now. My stomach feels... Weird. Like, a fuzzy kind of feeling. I don't get it. It's not a bad thing; I just feel incredibly... Gah, I don't know the word.

I think we're definitely more than friends. But, we're not quite there yet. Maybe I'll talk to him about it as soon as I see him again, when we have time... Yeah.

Snapping back into reality, I realise I've been in such deep thought that I'm literally metres from getting out of the woods and straight back to our little camp. I grin like an idiot, thinking of_ Lu_\- Of my friends, as I bolt out of the woods and back to the bright, vibrant outside world.

The sudden exposure to the light dazzles my eyes, but they slowly adjust. In the distance, I could see a dying fire, and around it, zipped-up sleeping bags. They must be inside, still sleeping. What a weight off my shoulders.

Softly chuckling to myself, I excitedly run over and get down on my knees. "Hey you guys, wake up." I shake their sleeping bags - No response. Lazy bastards. Shaking my head, I unzip one of the bags with my good hand to get them out of bed.

A putrid smell inflames my nostrils.

"Oh _god_, what is that?!" I exclaim, clasping my hands over my nostrils. The bag is only partially open, and it absolutely reeks of death. Ugh, what the hell is that?! "Luke, I swear to god," I begin, holding my breath as I resume unzipping the bag. "If you've taken another shi-"

I pause as I look inside the sleeping bag. It's not Luke, or Kenny, or AJ.

It's a dead corpse, a bullet in his head.

I stare in horror, lost for words.

Who the hell did this...?

Now panicking, I stumble back to the other sleeping bag. Beginning to unzip it, I can already smell the revolting odor of rotting bodies in there. I hold my breath and take a peak inside, just to make sure that those bodies aren't any of my friends.

Thank god it isn't...

But still, that doesn't explain why there's random dead bodies in these sleeping bags.

And an even bigger question ; Where the hell are my friends?

Oh no. Oh, _god_ no. I can feel myself start to hyperventialate, and my heart feel as if it's about to pound out of my chest. "No, no,_ no__** no**__!_" I pace around, trying to calm myself down and keep level-headed. I can feel my eyes start to blur with tears; I'm so, so worried. What if they're gone.. For good? These woods are huge!

What if somebody killed them?

I try and shake the thoughts off and think of what to do, but I can't. They're my family, and I love them. If they died - I don't know what I'd do.

Placing a trembling hand on my forehead, I try and reassure myself that everything's okay."It's okay Clem, it's okay. Think of a plan; Think of a plan, dammit. Where would they go? Look for footprints. The ground's damp, and their footprints-"

"_Hello_."

I freeze as I hear a deep, sinister unfamiliar voice from behind me.

This has to be the guy - The guy that.. That did this.

Instead of running away, I swirl myself around and look at the tall man who was standing before me. An intimidating looking man, in his mid 30's, with thin, ice-cold blue eyes that glare right at me. His blonde, medium length hair is slicked back neatly. His thin lips form a forced smile, the wrinkles on his face accentuated by his expression. He's wearing a black coat with beige colored trousers, and brown boots which look to be covered in... Blood. He's not just your average bandit; He looks like a real genuine threat.

I felt uneasy and nervous. I want to get the hell out of there and look for my friends urgently. That's the only thing on my mind.

But I feel as if this man knows something - Hell, he's probably the one that chased them away. Maybe even killed them...

Refusing to show this man that he intimidates me, I stand my ground and glare at him straight in the eye.

"Hello." I say, not showing any emotion in my speech or facial expression. Grinning slightly, he takes a step toward me, but I don't budge. This man wants me to be scared, and I sure as hell am not going to let him do that.

"What's a girl like you doing out here alone?" He quirks an eyebrow and crosses his arms across his chest, tapping his foot on the ground, expecting an answer from me. Oh, what a cocky bas...

"What are _you_ doing out here?" I refuse to give out any information. Just to piss the man off, I mirror his exact expression, further showing how his presence doesn't bother me - Not one bit.

"Ha, playing that game, are we?" He chuckles, combing through his hair with his fingers. "Well, _I'm_ just doing some business, that's all." He forces a smile at me, but I can see straight through it. He has bad, bad intentions.

"Business? In an apocalypse?" I furrow my brows at him and place a hand on my hip, eyeing him up suspiciously. I can tell he feels uneasy; I bet he's not used to people standing up to him like this. "Well, what 'business' are you attending to?"

He sucks in the air through his teeth, leaning forward slightly. "Just out to find my family. *i*My*i* daughter and wife, and a few of their friends too. I'm a bit of a family man, you see." He smacks his lips and looks away for a second. I can tell that there's some sort of truth to that, but he looks.. sinister about it. There's a burning hatred in his eyes. "Anyway," He begins, turning his attention back to me. "What's your name?"

I immediately blurt out the first thing that comes into my head. "Lilly." His eyes widen as he hears the name.

"Lilly, eh? Sure you're not lying about that, sweetheart?" He grins menancingly, biting down on his bottom lip. Crap, he must've saw straight through my lie. "Because, I know - Well, knew, someone called Lilly."

Oh, shit. He's looking for Lilly, isn't he?

And I just blew it, didn't I?

It all makes sense now - What Lilly and Quinn are so worried about is this guy.

"Listen, I don't care if you knew someone called Lilly." I say sassily, leaning forward a little. "And yes, my name is Lilly. There's more than one Lilly in this world, I'm pretty sure."

"Hmph." He frowns, leaning back out again. Letting out a huff, his expression suddenly turns.. Well, alarming, to me. "I guess you're right. I did ask some other guys if they knew anything about 'Lilly'. They didn't cooperate very well... So, I dealt with them." He murmurs, turning his attention to the sleeping bags, stuffed with dead bodies. Quirking an eyebrow, I shrug at him, showing that I don't care. "Oh, not those guys. I did put those dead bodies in there, but that's not who I'm talking about." He rubs his chin, biting down on his lip to prevent a grin from forming.

My heartbeat starts to pick up as I realise he may be talking about my own group.

"Two adults and a kid," He continues on. Fuck. He _is_ talking about them! "They seemed really, really worried about something.. I met them in the woods, when they were looking for a girl. I think... I think they were calling out the name 'Clementine'."

I feel so, so startled. He knows who I am - He's playing with me. "They asked me if I'd seen yo-I mean, her. She had amber eyes, black hair tied into bunches," He takes a step closer toward me, touching the brim of my cap. "Wearing a baseball cap with the letter 'D' on it..."

Anger takes over, and I forcefully push him back with my good arm. He staggers back a little, but maintains an evil grin on his face, as if it didn't even affect him.

"What the fuck did you do to them?" I growl, feeling my back pocket for my icepick. Nice and sharp. I firmly grasp the handle of it, prepared to pull it out at any given moment.

"Nothing," He smirks, shrugging his shoulders, as I can see him reach back for his own weapon. My teeth grit together and my grip tightens around the icepick as I get more and more aggravated.

"Tell me," I snarl, giving him one last chance before I jam this straight in his eye. "Or else."

He bursts out with laughter, smacking his knee as he keels over. "Or else what?" He manages to pant through his hysteria.

Oh, he has no idea what's coming to him.

_"Or else this."_

That's all I say before I lunge forward and jab my pick at his head. It pierce his right eye. Oozes of blood and tears flood from his eye as he slumps to the ground, dead.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" I grin to myself. Kneeling down, I pull the small icepick from the dead bastard. The icepick only went halfway through, but it definitely killed him.

Now that's over and done with, I need to find-

"**Clem**!"

I hear a familiar southern accent from behind me that I've been dying to hear for what felt like forever.

Turning around, I see Luke running up to me, and before I know it, his arms are wrapped tightly around me.

"Oh my god," I start to tear up in joy, wrapping my arms around him. I sink into his warm embrace, burying my face into his dirty orange jumper.

Oh look, here's the fuzzy feeling again. Why won't that thing go away?

"Clem, we were so fuckin' worried. I-I just, I thought you were gone, and..." He strokes the back of my head before slowly tearing away from the hug, his bold brown eyes glossed over which what appeared to be.. Tears? Luke, crying? I never thought I'd live to see the day. Looking down, he must see the splint I'm wearing."Shit, Clem. What happened to your hand?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later." I sigh. "Listen, I think we should talk-"

"Clem!" AJ sprints up to me and wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tightly. I quickly squeeze the little fella back, enjoying his cute little hugs.

"Hey, buddy." I quickly peck his cheek, patting his skinned head. Looking up, I see Kenny standing a few metres away, clutching his shoulder tightly. At first, he has a faint smile on his face, but it quickly turns into a pained one. I jog over to him to see blood seeping through his fingers. What the hell?"

"Hey, Clem. Glad to see you're safe, darlin'." He places a hand on my shoulder, using the other one to prevent any more blood from pouring out of his shoulder. It looks like it's bleeding heavily, and needs to get sorted out, now.

"Kenny, I'm so glad to see you, but what in the world happened to your shoulder?" I ask concerned, helping him apply pressure to the wound.

"Bastard got me in the shoulder. But I'm fine hun, I promise. Looks like you took care of things, anyway." He forces a smile which I could see straight through.

"You're not fine, Kenny. You're in pain. And you're bleeding heavily." I shake my head. He tries to speak over me, but I speak louder. "Listen! You could've hit an artery! You could bleed out! So shut the hell up, because you're** not** okay!"

"Well okay then, sunshine." He says sarcastically, moving his blood-covered hand out of the way, revealing a bullet-wound in his shoulder. Dammit, the bullet's still lodged inside, and he's definitely hit an artery judging by the blood.

"Kenny, you need serious help. The bullet's still inside." I say, panic evident in my voice, as I help him apply pressure to the wound.

"Sorry to break it to ya, but I don't think we can fuckin' fix it." He sighs, his voice trembling slightly. "We don't have any fuckin' supplies or nothin'."

W-we can fix it, right?

"Kenny's right," Luke steps in and shakes his head, looking down at the ground. "We're not gonna be able to fix it. We don't have anythin' to get the bullet out with, we can't stitch it back up, stop the bleedin'..."

"We need to think of something!" AJ joins in, rubbing the top of his skinned head nervously. "There's gotta be something we can do."

"I'm thinking." I rub my chin, feeling Kenny's warm blood seep through the thin gaps of my fingers. Every second we waste is a second we could've used saving Kenny's life. We don't have medical supplies. The only thing I have is the food I took from the cabin.

Wait-

The cabin.

_**The cabin.**_

**HEY**_** GUYS. Hope you like this chapter! Things are starting to get interesting, and it's only getting even more intense. This story is going to get dark - helluva lot dark, so be warned. Also, ppleaslreview! I really, really want to use your ideas to make the story as much to your liking as possible. So make sure to review me your ideas.**_

_**Also... shoutout time! Yes, im bringing this back. The 2 reviews which mean the most to me will be put here for each chapter.**_

_**Guest:Omg, you're back! I have to say, I would be lying if I said I didn't miss you for all this time. Plus I was thinking of writing my own story as well, I would really appreciate it if you would help me look it over.**_

**Thank you! Your support honestly means so much to me. Aw xD sure, of course I can. But you'll need to make an account so I can PM you. Do that, and of course I'll look it over! Thanks again for the review.**

**_InfiniteDawn: You know what I want, babycakes. S-M-U-T!And I don't know why, but I just keep feeling like Willow is some sort of evil child, like she's replacing someone. AJ? Anyway, amazing chapter! Can't wait until you upload next week- you better upload. By the way, I'm on holidays now, so we can chat on skype at the same time and I can finally put more effort into my fanfic. Ily, Cait. :)_**

**Of course you do, you dirty gal xD and Willow? Youlll see a lot of her and find out about who she really is. And yes I did upload, don't kill me xD I love ya girl!**

**What are you waitin for? Get reviewing! It takes seconds to review, and support is honestly what keeps me going. Love you all, hope you enjoyed the chapter! **


	4. Two Murderers In A Room

"Put me... Put me down, mother f-fucker..." Kenny mutters as Luke carries the older man over his shoulder. Kenny's losing blood - Fast. His skin has turned a ghostly color and his body gone completely limp. The man can barely even stand on his own two feet, never mind running.

It's really not looking good for him.

"Dammit, we have to run faster!" I exclaim, speeding ahead of Luke and AJ. I'm so desperate to keep Kenny alive; I don't know what I'd do if I lost him. He's almost like a dad to me - Always so protective, so caring. He's loyal to the bone - And I know that he'd do anything for me.

"I'm tryin', okay?! Fuck..." Luke curses, feeling exhausted from the man's weight. "How long now, Clem?"

Looking forward and squinting my eyes, I can make out the cabin in the far distance.

"It's right there!" AJ exclaims, running ahead and pointing to the cabin. Seeing that shelter in the distance only motivated the three of us to push ourselves to our limits and jolt forward.

We're almost there. Hold in there, Kenny.

* * *

I don't ask for permission before I swing the door open and burst inside, almost stumbling to the ground from the speed which I entered. Panting heavily and feeling exhausted, I keel over and take a deep breath before calling out;

"Cain?! I need you!"

I didn't wait for a response before I bolt into the living room - In there, was Cain and a young blonde man, looking at me completely startled.

"Woah, woah! Who are these people?!" The blonde man exclaims, jumping up from the sofa and running over to us, fists clenched. Nice introduction.

"Don't come any closer, okay?" AJ bravely steps forward and holds his hands up in surrender, trying to quell the young man's anger, as Luke slumps Kenny onto the sofa. Good, he's sitting down comfortably.

"Cain," I turn to the doctor, looking at me with a blank face. "Please, I need you to help Kenny. He's been shot in the shoulder." I ask, my voice trembling. I haven't been this scared in years.

Cain quickly nods and sits beside an unconscious Kenny. It frightens me even more knowing that he's passed out from losing so much blood. "Thomas, throw me that box. " He commands to the young man, before switching his gaze to me.. "Clementine, I need you to help apply pressure to the woun-"

"What the fuck? No!" I hear an angered voice from behind me - Lilly. Crap. This is going to complicate things. I mentally groan to myself, preparing myself for the earful I'm about to receive from her. "Clem, why the hell did you bring him here?!"

"He's shot!" I shoot daggers at the woman. I don't care if what she thinks. Kenny's going to live, whether she likes it or not!

"Oh, yeah?" She quirks an eyebrow and folds her arms, looking completely unamused. "Too bad it missed his brain. Although I doubt that he even has one."

I feel the urge to burst out with a mouthful of profanities at the woman, but the warm, velvet liquid seeping through my fingers distracts me. I turn back to Kenny and press down on the wound.

"Leave him alone, for gods sake! He's my friend!" AJ bravely steps up and growls at Lilly, much to her dismay. You could tell she did not like being told off - Especially by a kid.

"Whatever." Not wanting to argue with a kid, Lilly simply grunts and lazily slumps herself against a wall. I can still feel her glaring at me with that cold gaze of hers. Fine, she can hold a grudge against Kenny and get pissed off at me if she has to; But if Kenny's life is saved, I really don't give a crap about her.

"Look, this room's small. Maybe some of us should go, give the doc some space." Luke sighs, running a hand through his brown hair nervously. It's weird to think that once upon a time, Luke and Kenny were sworn enemies who hated eachother's guts. Now, we have Luke, nervously biting down on his thumb, frightened for the older man's health. Let's just hope they stay best friends.

I can already foresee that Lilly's about to make some stupid remark, judging by the forced grin on her face. "You're right. Kenny is taking up a lot of the space. We should probably move him out of the room; Or the whole cabin. Or maybe, even dump his body in the river north of here."

That's it. I can't take any more of Lilly's idiotic remarks anymore. "For the love of god, shut your god damn fu-"

"Clem!"

I hear a familiar, sweet voice call out to me ecstatically. Of course, it was Willow. Thank god she came when she did; Otherwise, I think I would've said something that I'd deeply regret towards Lilly.

I smile faintly at the cute little girl who stood by the door, but I'm too occupied to speak to her. "Clem, who are these people? And why is one of them dying?" She asks, putting a finger to her thin lips.

"Willow, now's not the time for questions. Why aren't you with Anne?" Lilly enquires crossing her arms and strolling over to the child. Willow pouts her lips and simply shrugs in response.

"I thought I heard Clem's voice, so I ran out of the room and ran here really quick." She sighs, swaying her body side-to-side as she gazes at Lilly with her huge icy-blue eyes. Meanwhile, as Cain instructs me to take my hand off of Kenny's wound so he can get the bullet out, I tune in to the conversation. I know that Kenny's in good hands - Cain fixed my hand up pretty well, so I don't need to worry.

"Yeah well, Clementine's busy, if you couldn't tell." Lilly grumbles, sending a glare towards me before focusing back on Willow. Judging from her expression, Lilly clearly dislikes me for saving Kenny; But in all honesty, it doesn't bother me that much. "Now why don't you go back upstairs to Anne?"

"But-"

"Do it, Willow." Lilly says sternly. Willow lets out a groan, but complies, swivelling her small body around and walking towards the door. Lilly peers over her shoulder and looks directly at AJ. "Do you want to go with her?"

AJ slowly nods his head in response. "Um, sure." He mumbles, reluctantly trailing behind the younger girl, waiting for him at the door. Knowing those two, they'll get along just fine.

"Bullet's out." Cain mumbles to the blonde man who is helping with the whole procedure, drawing my attention back to Kenny. He's still knocked out cold and all color has drained from his skin, causing panic to stir inside of me. "Now, pass me some disinfectant."#

* * *

Luke slumped himself beside me on the sofa, subconsciously edging closer and closer toward me as the nerve-wrecking procedure went on. Lilly paced around the room anxiously, a frown never leaving her face. After what felt like hours, Cain and... Thomas, was it? Had finished working on Kenny, and his wound was cleaned, stitched, and bandaged.

"Thanks a lot for doin' that." Luke says gratefully, a weak smile on his face. "We really appreciate it."

"No problem. Just doing our jobs." Cain says, putting all the equipment used back in the medical box and laying it on the table. "So, I take it you guys are staying here?"

I hear Lilly scoff to herself. Great. "I don't mind these guys staying, but Kenny?" She shakes her head vigourously, strutting over to where Luke and I are sat. "If you think I'm going to let Kenny sleep under the same roof as me, you're wrong."

"Oh come on, Lilly." I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose. "It's been 12 years. Just give him a chance, okay?"

"A chance?!" She stares at me in disbelief, as if I insulted her great ancestors. "Do you think Kenny gave my dad a chance? Do you really think he gave my dad a chance when he dropped a fucking brick on his head?! He was still alive, Clem! He murdered my dad in cold blood! So don't fucking tell me to give him a chance when he's a murderer-"

"You're one to talk Lilly, aren't you?" I finally snap. There's no one to hold me back this time. And Lilly's about to get an earful of what I think about her.

"Clem..." Luke puts a hand on my shoulder to try and quell my rage, but I shrug him off and glare at the woman standing before me.

"Look at you, ranting about how Kenny's a 'cold blooded murderer'... Fucking ridiculous. Have you forgotten that you shot an innocent woman point-blank in the face because she stood up to you? Do you even feel any remorse for murdering Carley!? You're a fucking hypocrite, Lilly! Why should we give Kenny a chance, you ask? Because we gave YOU a chance, by letting you back onto the RV! We could've just left you for dead on the road, but we took you with us anyway! And how do you show your appreciation for us? Oh, by stealing the goddamn RV! If we couldn't get that train out of the way, we'd be left for dead!" I screech at the top of my lungs, shocking Lilly into complete silence. "So if I were you, I'd stop being a stubborn, hypocritical, cold-hearted asshole, and try to make up for your fuck-ups by giving Kenny a goddamn chance!"

The silence feels painful. I can see the hurt written all over Lilly, the shock on Luke's face, and the astonishment of Thomas and Cain. Crap.. I got carried away, and I blew it. I fucking blew it. Just by looking at her, I can see how much I pained her. Her bottom lip is trembling and her eyes are glossed over with tears. I made Lilly cry. Lilly. Cry. Those are two words which don't belong in a sentence together, unless it involves 'Kenny', or 'Saltlick'. No doubt she's going to kick us all out now, just because I couldn't shut my big mouth.

"God... Lilly, I'm-"

"Fine." She says simply, blinking away the tears, staring at me with a blank expression.

I furrow my brows, concerned for her. "No Lilly, you're not fine. I've been a real ass-"

"Fine. Kenny can stay."

Wait - What?

"Didn't you hear me? Kenny. Can. Stay." She repeats. It still doesn't make sense to me. I just insulted her to the point where she was about to cry.

"But..."

"Now shut up, before I change my mind." She shakes her head and mumbles, before marching out of the room.

I stare at the ground in shock, not able to believe what just happened. Everything - From me insulting Lilly, to Lilly having a change of heart. It just didn't feel right...

"Look, Kenny's awake." Luke nudges me, pointing toward Kenny. Oh, thank god. His eye slowly flutters open and he stretches his body out, letting out a huge yawn.

"Uhh... Hmph. The fuck am I?" Kenny rubs his tired eye, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. His gaze lands on me. "Uh... Clem, where the fuck are we?" He asks, rubbing his shoulder to find that it had been treated. His attention switches to the two men - Cain and Thomas, who are complete strangers to him. "Woah, who the fuck are you guys?"

"Chill out, man. They fixed your shoulder. You'd be dead if it weren't for these guys." Luke points out. Slightly relieved, Kenny lets out a sigh and slumps back down on the sofa, resting his head on a cushion.

"Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question... The fuck are we?" He inquires, repositioning his hat on his head.

He is not going to like this. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for the verbal onslaught that would come out of Kenny's mouth.

"Lilly's cabin."

Kenny's expression said it all.

* * *

_**TIME FOR THE AUTHORS NOTE, WHERE I RAMBLE ON FOR AGES! BUT A LOT OF IT IS IMPORTANT SO... READ IF YOU LIKE.**_

**HEY! Thank you for reading chapter 4 of There's Still Hope. I'm sorry it's late. I went to a wedding on Saturday and stayed at some hotel, so I didn't have any time to write the chapter. And also, I'm so sorry that the quality of my writing has dropped in this chapter - I have a lot to do lately, and my mind is blocked. But I promise that in future chapters, I'm going to try my best to improve the quality of my writing.**

**ALSO. I apologize that Luke hasn't spoken much lately, but trust me - He's basically the main character next to Clem. I have the WHOLE storyline set out from here. I just haven't found the opportunity to make him have a huge role in the last few chapters, but that opportunity is coming very soon. Also, the action will kick off really soon. I feel as if I've been dragging it on for too long now, and I want the crazy shit to happen now.**

**GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE. Not only am I updating this story every Tuesday and Saturday(Or sometimes Sunday, depending on how much homework I have) But I'm also making another fanfiction related to this one. It's basically a collection of one-shots of what happened before this story - How Luke survived the lake (Trying to make that as canon as possible) And basically just fun moments between the four survivors. If you've got any ideas for the story, let me know. It's going to be called "There's Still Hope - Oneshot collection"**

**I'm also considering making a prequel after the story is finished, as there's 10 years to fill up and I just can't think of an interesting plotline for a sequel. **

**Moving on - SHOUT OUT TIME!**

**My shoutout this week goes to : Claaaraxo**

_**I'm... Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! I'm so sorry that i haven't reviewed, i feel like a terrible reader but I've been super busy and you haven't uploaded in ages! You only recently uploaded Chapters 2 and 3! But I'm sure you had your reasons and i can't wait to read the next two (I'm reviewing after Ch 1). This chapter was really quite interesting to say the least, but i feel like you could've saved any kissing between the two for much later... I saw it as being Luke and Clem slowly developing feelings for each other, or one already crushing on the other and the other is oblivious to it... Idk, but you are the writer, and a fantastic writer at that so I can't wait to see what you do with their situations! This chapter made me smile a lot, a literally found myself saying "Awww" out loud! Especially in Luke and Clem's cute conversations. I'm watching one of my favourite you tubers play the while of walking dead cause I haven't seen her play the whole thing but it made me relive the excitedness and giddy feelings I'd feel when Clem and Luke interact with each other i ship them so much, i got so upset when he died... And when you mentioned killing Jane over Kenny... I killed Kenny... Not sure why, it was my first time playing i didn't really know what to do i think i was freaking out mostly but i felt like Kenny was really unstable and better off out of this world.. I really like Jane... Idk maybe if I'm unhappy with it I'll replay it. But anyway enough with this! Review has been dragging on too long! Great to see you back Oreo, can't wait to see what you do with this story (I get so excited when I get an email saying you've posted a new chappie)**_

**Love, Clara xx**

**Yay! I remember you being one of my constant reviewers. It's great to see you again. For the kissing thing, I put that in because the first chapter was about 10k words. Looking back on it, I do feel as if I rushed it, but I can't change it now. I couldn't bring myself to kill him. I just really disliked Jane... Anyway, thank you so much for your support! I really, really appreciate it.**

**Expect the next chapter to be uploaded on Saturday (or Sunday, maybe) and also keep an eye out for There's Still Hope Oneshot Collection! I love suggestions, so put some suggestions in the reviews. I'm definitely going to include most, if not all, of your ideas, one way or another. Thank you for reading!**


	5. New Plans

**FINALLY! I UPDATED! WOO! AFTER LIKE, 60 DAYS!**  
**So you may notice the quality of the writing in this chapter drop, and I'm so sorry for that. I'm really tired and my writing skills are rusty. I did try my best. We're leading up to the good parts, now. WOO!**

* * *

My ears are still ringing from the deafening yells of Kenny, as I lean against the marble kitchen counter, trying to relax my tired mind. It was difficult trying to quell Kenny's rage, and it took a lot of persuading on my side. Although he's still holding a grudge against Lilly, at least he's not shaking the house with his shouting.

"Hello?" I hear a shy, unfamilar voice from behind me. I swivel myself around to see a young girl; must've been around the age of 15 or 16. A small smile spreads across her lips as she makes her way over to me.

"Hey." I smile faintly at the teenager, trying to be social with her. In all honesty, it was a little overwhelming to be meeting all these people. I'm too used to spending my days with Luke, Kenny and AJ, I suppose. The teen looks at me a little awkwardly, running her fingers through her blonde hair.

"Uhm, can I... get a drink, please?" She asks shyly, looking at the tiled floor, before averting her gaze back to me again.

Feeling a little confused by her question, I quirk an eyebrow, folding my arms. "Why are you asking me?"

"Sorry, but you're kinda standing in the way of the cabinet." She replies, pointing towards the cabinet I was blocking. I mutter an apology, stepping aside so she could access it. "Thank you." She murmurs before opening the pulling out a plastic cup from the cabinet. She pauses, turning her head to face me. "Could I.. get you a drink?"

"Yes, please." I nod in response. She smiles back at me faintly, pulling out another cup. She shuffles her feet across the kitchen tiles, switching the cold tap on and pouring us both a glass of chilled water. "Thanks." I smile to show my appreciation, as she hands the cup to me. I slowly sip from the cup, feeling the cold liquid make it's way down my throat as I swallow. Looking at the teenager drinking, I decide to try and make conversation. "So... What's your name?"

She slurps her drink, wiping her mouth with her sleeve before responding. "I'm Lucy."

"I'm Clementine." I respond, taking another swig of the water before continuing. The girl's shy, that much is obvious. "What do you do around here? I mean, it appears that everyone's got a role. Caine's a doctor, Lilly's the leader..." I trail off, awaiting a reply.

"I don't really do much. I mean, I take care of my little brother, Charles." She tells me, placing her empty glass on the counter, before continuing. "My dad's often busy stuff... Y'know, like helping Lilly, keeping us safe from _Parker_ and his brother-"

"Who's Parker?" I interrupt her midsentence, wondering who the hell this person was. I'm kind of with these guys now. If I'm going to be getting chased by strange men, I might as well know about it.

Lucy appears to be have been caught off-guard by my question, shaking her head slowly. "Parker's some crazed man... We used to live in his community, Silver Lake. It was great at first. Food, warmth, shelter, supplies... You name it, and this place had it. It was like before the world turned upside down." She paused, brushing a few strands of blonde hair out of her face before resuming. "Parker and his brother, Damien, began to go crazy. Especially Damien. He... He had a baby in his hands, and he just..." Her voice begins to crack and her emerald-green eyes gloss over, unable to finish the sentence. I can only assume what the sick bastard done to that baby, and it sickens me.

Giving her a sympathetic look, I place a hand on her shoulder to try and console her. "It's okay. You don't need to go on." The young girl shoots me a faint smile to show her appreciation.

She bats her eyelids to blink away the tears, clearing her throat to continue the story. "He's a psycho, Clementine. It's been about five years since we escaped, and he's still on our tail."

"What does he want?" I inquire. He must have a motive. The whole situation reminds me of Carver; but for some reason, I feel as if this is so much worse.

"I'm not sure. I mean, he's after Lilly for... something. I'm not sure. I just vouched to escape after hearing about his brother killing that poor baby..." She murmurs softly, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. I can tell how much this man scares these people.

Suddenly, the memory of the man I killed in the forest comes rushing back to my mind. Lucy said the man was after Lilly, and I recall the strange man mentioning Lilly's name... What if this man was Parker?

"I think I may have killed Parker." I say bluntly, causing Lucy's eyes to shoot open.

"You did?"

"I think... I mean, he mentioned Lilly's name. Told me he was after his wife and daughter."

She scratches her scalp, looking at me with a bewildered expression. "W- What did he look like?" She stutters nervously, placing her shaking hands against her forehead. I'm not so sure what's making her so on edge - I mean, I did them a favor, right?

"He's tall... Medium length blonde hair, icy-blue eyes, looks to be in his mid 30's." I describe him to the best of my ability, confident that the man I killed was infact 'Parker'.

I see her eyes widen and her body turn stiff with fright, confusing me even more. "Clementine... You killed Parker..." She confirms for me, nodding her head slowly. What, did she expect me to let him live? I open my mouth to speak, but her voice can be heard over my own. "His brother, Damien, will want revenge."

Oh. _Oh..._

"Shit." I blurt out, smacking my hand against my forehead. So now we've got an angry, blood-thirsty, vengeful baby killer on our tail. Fucking great.

"It's not safe anymore... Damien would've brought men with him." Lucy reminds me, biting down on her thumb nervously.

"Then we need to go." I state, placing a hand on my hip. "I'll find Lilly and tell her what's happening. Get everyone else to pack their things."

"Alright. Lilly's in the living room." She informs me. I nod in response, as she hurriedly dashes out of the kitchen, heading down the corridor.

Okay... It's time to break the news to Lilly. I doubt she'll take it well.

* * *

"Lilly," I say calmly as I enter the living room, seeing the woman standing in the corner of the room, shooting daggers at Kenny. Kenny wouldn't even make eye contact with her, and instead, was muttering something to Luke. Lilly's peers over her shoulder to glance at me, her expression easing up a little. I still feel guilty over what I said to her before, but that doesn't matter right now.

"What?" She asks, crossing her arms.

"We have to get out of here. I killed Parker. Lucy told me his brother will want revenge." I tell her quite bluntly. Her jaw drops as I mention 'Parker', but she shrugs it off, exhaling loudly. Luke and Kenny stare at me, dumbfounded. They have no idea what I'm talking about. "Look, I'll explain later, but right now, we gotta go. Lucy's getting everyone to pack their stuff."

Frustrated, Lilly pinches the bridge of her nose, pacing around the room. She looks as if she's about to blow, but she surprisingly manages to stay calm. "We need to get moving."

"No shit." Kenny spits, pissing Lilly off further. Here we go again... Luke pats his shoulder to try and make him ease up on the woman. Fortunately, the words I said bef - No, yelled before, at Lilly, knocked some sense into her. She doesn't even retaliate. Instead, she gives him the cold shoulder, brushing past me as she exits the room.

"You should really lay off of her, Ken..." Luke mutters to him as he helps him to his feet, despite his protests.

"Whatever." Kenny huffs, swatting Luke away with his good arm. "Clem, where's AJ?"

"With some girl. I think her name is Anne." I tell him, stepping out of the room, my companions following not too far behind.

"I don't like these people..."

"Shut up, man."

"What, you honestly defendin' these people after you've known 'em for a couple of minutes?"

"They saved your life, Kenny..."

"I'd rather be dead than be livin' under the same roof as Lil-"

"Shut up, Kenny." I hiss venomously, peering over my shoulder to look at the wounded warrior. He holds his hands up in surrender, opening his mouth to argue back

"No. Shut up. Shut the** fuck** up. I'm sick of hearing this. I literally had to yell at Lilly to let you stay. She's forgiven you for what you did to her dad. So give her a fucking chance, alright?"

Kenny grits his teeth in anger, looking as if he's about to blow. Surprisingly, he manages to maintain his cool - Letting out a grunt and hanging his head at a loss for words. Luke shoots me a smile to show his appreciation. I shyly nod in response.

* * *

The three of us stood outside, awaiting the others to join us. I feel paranoid; this Damien guy seems fucking insane. He killed a baby? The world truly has gone to shit...

"Hey," I hear Luke murmur quietly, shuffling closer to me with his hands in his pockets.

"Uhm, hi." I reply, avoiding his gaze. Ever since the 'incident', it feels so fucking awkward to talk to him, alone. I mean, Kenny's here too, but he's standing quite a distance away and isn't within ear-shot.

"So, uh... How you doin'?" He asks, obviously feeling as uncomfortable as I am. I shrug my shoulders in response, staring at the wooden door of the cabin, waiting for it to open. "Oh c'mon. That ain't an answer."

"I'm tired." I sigh, removing my signature baseball cap to reveal my messy bedhead. The air is humid; despite the storm that occurred the other night, it's hot. Tropical weather, Kenny calls it. It makes me feel deprived.

"You and me both." He huffs heavily. Unable to think up a response, I run my fingers through my tangled, dampened hair anxiously. I try and fan myself with my hat, but it barely makes a difference. I can feel his gaze follow my every move, and to be honest, it kind of unnerves me. It's not that he creeps me out or anything, but it's just that... Everything's so awkward...

Dang, I've used that word so many times today.

"What, you ain't even gonna look at me?" He asks, a hint of amusement in his voice. Did he find this funny? I frown, turning my head to actually make eye contact with the overly-confident man. I notice a smirk spread across his face as my eyes meet his, placing a hand on his hip. "Well, would ya look at that? There's progress."

"Can it, asshole." I try and remain a neutral expression as I scowl at him, biting back a smile.

"Woah. She talks?!" He exclaims, holding his hands up in shock. I roll my eyes and shake my head in response, stifling a giggle. "Oh my god, this is incredible. She actually laughs, too!"

"Shut up!" I grin, jabbing him in the ribs with my elbow. He grunts as I hit him, clutching his torso.

"Ow, hey!"

"You deserved it."

"I was just try'na make you laugh. And it worked!"

Our amusing conversation is interrupted as the cabin door swings open, the group emerging from within. There are some faces among the crowd that I've never seen before, most notably a teen with a bandana covering her eye, a young man with glasses, and an older man, holding the hand of a young boy. A bright smile spreads across my face as I see Willow walking beside AJ.

Oooh, looks like they've become good friends, judging the way they're smiling at eachother.

Upon seeing me, the little girl's face lights up, instantaneously breaking into a sprint.

"_Clem_!"

Oh, _boy_.

I try to prepare for impact, but it proves futile, as the adorable girl practically pounces on me and sends me stumbling backwards. She giggles as she wraps her arms tightly around me, squeezing me a little _too _much.

I gasp for air as she eventually breaks away from the hug, oxygen finally able to fill my lungs. I hear Luke chuckle lightly as I wheeze, shooting a glare in his direction. He looks at me all-innocent like, which I know is bullshit.

"Hey, guys." AJ follows behind Willow, flashing Luke, Kenny and I a smile. AJ, unlike Willow, isn't the touchy-feely type of child.

"Alright everyone, we're gonna be heading South." Lilly steps forward and announces, grabbing the group's full attention. "Hopefully, we'll come across a vehicle we can all travel in along the way. But for now, we'll be on foot for awhile."

"That plan is illogical." The young man with glasses speaks up, adjusting the sling on his shoulder. Surprisingly, Lilly doesn't argue back or even look ticked off in the slightest.

"Do you have a plan, Aidan?" She asks calmly, looking at the man with a blank expression. Usually, if someone disagreed with Lilly, she'd bite their head off. I wonder why she was making an exception here.

"Yes."

"What's your plan?" She inquires, listening to 'Aidan' intently.

"The entire plan?"

"No, just the basics."

"We go to Laramie." Aidan tells her. Laramie? Isn't that a city? Why would we head there? "The community is approximately 720 miles from this exact location, meaning approximately 240 hours if we walk the entire distance. But it wouldn't really be 240 hours, because we would need sleep and food and water. It consumes time to get these-"

"That's a great plan, Aidan." Lilly smiles at him. I feel shocked that the man knows this kind of stuff; How? Does he have some amazing mathematical/geography/memory skills or something? It drives me crazy thinking that someone could be that intelligent... "Do you remember the route?"

"Yes."

"Great. Could you lead the way, please?"

"Yes." He says simply once again, turning himself in a different direction, walking ahead.

Judging by the expression on everyone's face (Excluding Kenny, Luke and AJ's), they don't even seem fazed by the fact that he just came up with such an amazing plan on the spot... I have so many questions to ask that guy:

_How are you so smart? How do you know the way? What's Laramie like?  
_

But I should probably save them for later.

I walk alongside Luke and Willow, baffled by the almost-perfect plan the genius just created... The journey to this 'community' is going to take a while; a couple of weeks, at least. But I'm sure the journey will be worth it. However, I doubt that this is all going to run oh-so smoothly. Nothing ever does in this apocalyptic world.  
And for some reason, I can't help but feel like this crazy motherfucker _Damien_ is going to catch up with us.

* * *

**ALRIGHT. Sorry for that disappointing chapter, okay?! I tried to character develop. I failed. Hmph. At least it's something!**  
**So I've noticed that my faithful, amazing readers who reviewed the older version of the story are unable to review current chapters. I wasn't aware of that until now. I just thought people had stopped reading, and that's partially the reason why I didn't update for a long time. Reviews make me feel so motivated and supported, so I appreciate .review.**

**I decided to write up this chapter in 1 day xD I have HUGE plans for the story. . . . So please, stay tuned! It's about to get interesting...**

**I'm going to continue doing review shoutouts in the next chapter. For now, I'm going to shoutout a couple of authors. You NEED to check out their stories, please. They're amazing.**

**nxm-fanfiction - Alrighty, she's currently writing an adorable Olderclem!xLuke story. Check it out! It's so cute 3**

**Leafs nation - My writing style is inspired by his. If you like my writing, you'll LOVE his genius TWD fanfictions involving Clem, Jane and Lilly (AND ELLIE FROM THE LAST OF US.) GO CHECK IT OUT!**

**Stay tuned! I promise, I won't give up on this story again. It'll be updated frequently. Please leave a review! It motivates me so much.**

**P.S. FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER. OREOANARCHY. I'M ALWAYS ONLINE!**

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**\+ Edited the spaces in between each line - Infinitify**

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**Thanks for reading!**


	6. The 'Talk'

The scorching hot sun-rays burn my skin as I walk down the dusty road, a cloud of dirt accumulating under my feet with every step. The air is thick; with every gasp for oxygen I take, it adds to the weight on my chest. I clutch onto my signature cap with my sweaty palms. As much as I hate not wearing the thing, it just made me feel hotter and hotter. My purple jacket is wrapped loosely around my waist. Even with just my black vest-top and leggings, the humidity is almost overwhelming. I'm burning up. My whole body is literally on fire right now. My legs tremble as I barely manage to push on.

I really, really don't feel good. I'm light-headed, and exhausted, and deprived in every single way...

I feel as if I'm about to...-

"Woah, woah woah!" Luke exclaims as he wraps his arms around me, saving me from falling face first into the concrete road. I let out a sigh of relief, lifting my weary head to look up at the taller man. I try to force a smile to show my gratitude, but all I can manage is a twitch of the lips. "Jesus Clem, you need to rest!"

Hearing the commotion, the group ahead turn around, their attention focused on me. They're looking at me with genuine concern; is it really that bad?

"You okay, Clem?" Willow asks, coming to join my side. I try to reply, but I can barely manage a croak. The girl furrows her brows and sighs, holding my hand to try and comfort me.

"We should stop." A man, who I assume to be Lucy's father, voices his opinion. "For the girl."

"Alright, everyone. We're resting here for a few minutes." Lilly announces - The poor woman's not looking too good herself, dark bags forming under her eyes from years upon years of stress, but she somehow manages to stay strong. "Catch your breath. Drink some of your water, but make sure to preserve it."

Luke carefully lowers me onto the ground, sitting alongside me on the dirty surface. Willow sits beside me, although not too close - I'm soaked in sweat, and I'm sure she's revolted by that. Kenny and AJ make their way over and join us, forming a small circle in the road. I can't help but feel paranoid as their gazes are fixated on me. It can't be that bad.. Can it?

"Clem... Holy shit, are you feelin' okay?" Kenny asks, placing a hand on my flushed face. "Oh, fuck.. You're hotter than a fuckin' ghost chilli pepper."

"Cain!" Willow calls out to the man, immediately grabbing his attention. He jumps up from where he's sat, leaving Thomas behind, as he makes his way over. Time for a doctor's analysis, I suppose...

"Wow, Clem." He shakes his head as he joins the small circle, leaning forward to touch my burning forehead. He gasps in surprise and pulls his hand away, wiping the sweat dunes onto his jeans before giving his examination. "Judging by all your symptoms, you're suffering from sunstroke."

I've heard of that before. When I visited Florida with my parents, my dad suffered from it. Luckily, he had an ice-cream to make him feel better. Damn, ice-cream... I wish I had that right now...

"Is that bad?" Willow asks, playing with her fingers nervously. "Kind of... But don't worry. Clem's strong. She'll pull through, I know she will." AJ tells her, a bright smile on his face. Willow lets out a sigh of relief and nods, reassured that I'll be okay. I'd vouch for that, if my throat weren't so dry. Fuck, I can barely croak.

"We shouldn't have let her carry all those bags yesterday... Damn it." Luke mutters, rummaging through his own rucksack to pull out a half-full bottle of water. "Here, Clem." He hands the bottle over to me, and I gladly accept. I unscrew the bottle and take slow sips, savouring the refreshing drink.

It's only our second day on the road, and I'm absolutely deprived. I guess I pushed myself too much yesterday, and now it's come to bite me in the ass. I felt like I needed to prove a point; Carrying everyone's baggage and such. Hell, Willow wasn't feeling so good, so I was carrying her for the majority of the day. I even gave her my drink. I skipped a night of sleep to keep watch for those crazy guys on our trail.

I can see the guilt written all over her face as I look at Willow, and it makes me feel terrible knowing that she thinks it's her own fault. I take the bottle away from my lips, passing it back over to Luke. He takes it back and stuffs it into his bag, resting the luggage aside.

"Clementine, you need to rest, now." Cain practically demands, to my dismay. We have to keep going to get away from these psychos... There's no way I'm stopping if it's not necessary. "Clem, you /need/ to! If you don't get rest, then... It could lead to serious illness."

"I-I don't..." I choke out, pounding myself in the chest before trying to finish my sentence. My voice sounds dry and raspy in comparison to what it usually sounds like, and it scares me. I clear the lump in my throat before continuing "I don't want to burden the group." I manage to wheeze. Cain looks as if he's about to protest.

"You won't 'burden' the group, Clementine. With your sickness, and your broken hand, you're going to need to rest in order to heal." Cain tells me, reminding me of my injured hand. I'd completely forgotten about the splint wrapped around my hand somehow - That's because the pain I'm going through now distracts me to the few fractured bones in my hand.

"Yeah. We could all do with some rest. It don't matter if the she-devil thinks otherwise..." Kenny mutters, indicating to Lilly. Unwilling to put up with Kenny's irritating bitching about the woman, I groan and curl up into a ball on the ground, allowing my heavy eyelids to drop, blocking out the bickering going on around me.

I just need to sleep.

* * *

I groan from the tapping moon-light against my face, wondering how long I'd been sleeping. Hours? Days? It's obviously been awhile, seeing as the clear night sky is dazzling with stars. The air is significantly cooler than before, and after a good day's rest, I'm feeling refreshed. I perk myself up on my elbows and scan the area, noticing almost everyone happily snoozing away. The one and only person that is awake, however, is Quinn; staring off into space in a daydream, hugging her knees to stay warm. She looks... Lonely. Feeling sympathy for her I steadily climb to my feet, tip-toeing over the bodies that lay on the floor to walk over to her. Look at me, being a little social butterfly.

"Hey," I call out to her in a hushed-tone, snapping her out of her daydream. She gives me a welcoming smile, beckoning me over to sit by her. Returning the smile, I sit myself down beside her.

"Feeling better?" She asks, noticing the improved state I'm in. My head's still throbbing and my body is weak, but other than that, I'm completely fine.

"Yeah, much." I nod in response, bringing my knees up to my chest to keep in the body-warmth. The cold air sends shivers down my spine, and the hairs on my arms stand up. Still, it's better than the scorching-hot sun, I suppose.

"Good. I'm surprised at how quick you recovered..." She tells me, mirroring my posture. "And your hand... That getting better, too?"

"Yup."

"Good, good." Quinn responds. "I was just wondering, do you want to come down to the river with me? 'Cause, there's a river nearby. And... Everyone's dehydrated." She asks, tightening her long-black ponytail as she speaks. "I mean- You don't have to, but... It would be easier with four hands. Well, three hands actually, seeing as your hand is broken-"

"I'll come, Quinn." I furrow my brows and grin at her strange behaviour, quickly clambering to my feet. It's kind of amusing to see Quinn acting so... nervous. I don't see what's the problem here, but I don't need to inquire.

"Okay, okay. Let's go. I got the empty bottles in my bag." Quinn tells me, jumping to her feet. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she beckons me over, beginning to walk forwards. I trail not too far behind her.

Maybe I'll be able to get to know her more.

* * *

"So... You knew Lilly before, right?" Quinn clears her throat and speaks up, gazing at me awkwardly. I quirk an eyebrow, nodding my head in reply. I've already told her this, haven't I? "I mean, I know you do. Damn it... Sorry for my awkwardness, it's just that... Uh, what kind of stuff does Lilly like?"

I squint my eyes and stare at her, confused as to why she's asking these questions. I guess she wants to be closer to the woman, which is understandable. "She likes yelling." I smirk, receiving a nervous laugh from Quinn in response. "Uhm, shooting...? I think she liked to talk about her experience in the military. She told me a few vague things about it."

"Ha, okay..."

"Why are you asking?" I press the question, her eyes widening in surprise. She glances away in embarrassment, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

Oh..

_Oh!_** HAHA!**

"You like _Lilly?_!" I exclaim like a little girl finally discovering who her best friend has a crush on, a wide smile spreading from ear to ear. She doesn't need to reply; it's written all over her face. "Aww, that's so cute!"

"Oh look, there's the river!" Quinn attempts to change the subject, sprinting towards the water in the distance, running as fast as her legs would take her. I smirk as I follow her, trying to catch up.

Oh, I'm never going to let her live this down.

* * *

"Do you loooove her?"

"Shut up."

"Have you kissed yet?"

"No."

"Do you want to do..._ kissing stuff?_"

"NO! What the hell do you mean by '_kissing stuff'_?" She looks at me in distaste, shaking her head. Honestly, I am having SO much fun taking the piss out of the poor lady.

"You know what I mean..." I wiggle my eyebrows and smirk, filling the plastic bottle with liquid before screwing the cap on tightly and placing it beside me, grabbing the next, repeating the process over and over...

"I don't want to have sex with Lilly, if that's what you're implying." She wrinkles up her nose in disgust. I've never heard of segs before, but she seems to be jumping to conclusions about what I'm implying... Hm.

"A guilty conscience, I see. I guess I would be implying that if I knew what a _'segs_' was."

Seeing her burst out in a fit of hysterical laughter, I look at her, confusion written all over my face. Was it something I said?

"Segs?!" She wheezes, blinking away the tears forming in her hazel-colored eyes. "Clem, do you even know what **sex** is?"

"Can't say that I do." I sigh shamefully, scratching the top of my scalp in confusion. It's not that bad...

Is it?

Finally regaining the ability to breathe properly, Quinn clears her throat, seemingly ready to give me a speech or lesson.

"Well, Clem. This is going to get very... awkward... Are you ready to hear this?"

"Oh, how bad could this be?" I roll my eyes and groan. I've lived through hell and back. I'm sure a little talk about a taboo topic isn't going to faze me in the slightest.

Taking a deep breath, Quinn composes herself, turning herself to face me.

"Well, it all starts when two people care about each other deeply..."

* * *

"And there you have it! That is the pleasurable process of making babies. It's how we were all made. Who knows, maybe you'll make a baby someday?"

I stare at Quinn with a blank face, unable to comprehend what she had just spent about 20 whole minutes rambling on about. I have. No words.

I greatly underestimated the... trauma...

My mind is just... tainted.

Wow.

"Shocking, right? Don't worry. If you need any more advice, let me know!" She says rather proudly, flashing me a smile as she stuffs the now-full bottles into the backpack, slinging the thing over her shoulder. "Right, let's get back before the others notice we're gone."

Slowly, I rise to my feet, my gaze still fixated on the ground. Traumatized by what was just explained to me in perfect detail, I'm barely able control my body's movements. Instead of picking my feet up properly, I lazily shuffle across the grimey ground, not giving a damn if dust ends up lodged between my toes. I just want to curl up into a ball and forget about.. That.

* * *

Arriving back at the camp in the middle of the road, I slump myself on the ground beside Luke, curling up into a ball. The images.. That's just too much for my innocent mind to handle. I clench my eyes together tightly, blocking out the surrounding world around me. I just wanted to slee-

"Hey, Clem. Still awake?" Luke whispers to me, lightly nudging me in the side of the ribs. I gulp and let my eyelids flutter open, seeing the farm boy glancing down at me with a weak smile on his face. Despite what occurred several nights ago, it seems that everything's become almost platonic now. And with my blossoming crush for the guy, I'm not letting the flames die down now. Maybe if I use my new-found knowledge to draw him back in... I mean, Quinn said that's what people who care deeply for each other do, right? I feel as if I haven't quite grasped the concepts of things yet. Still, I'm feeling pretty courageous...

"Hey, Luke." I smile, rolling onto my side to face him.

"How you holdin' up?"

"Good, just... thinking." I say, suddenly feeling a wave of confidence rush through me being in front of my crush.

"Thinkin' 'bout what?" He inquires, leaning in and listening to me intently. I bite back a mischievous smirk and continue to look him straight in those bold eyes of his, maintaining a neutral expression.

"I was just thinking, if you wanted to have sex."

He stares at me in silence, looking flushed. His mouth forms a straight line and his forehead wrinkles, gazing at me almost sympathetically. "What the hell, Clem? Do you even know what... What that is?"

"Yes. Quinn told me." I nod, feeling increasingly nervous as he narrows his eyes and watches me fidget around anxiously, my confidence slowly draining. "It's where two people who care about eachother... You know?"

"You don't get it, do you? Two people who LOVE eachother, Clem." He adds, emphasising the word 'Love'. I scoff and shake my head, finding fault with his argument.

"Yeah, because you really loved Jane so much, didn't you Luke..." I feel the strong urge to continue, but trail off upon seeing the sadness on his face.

"Damn it, that was different, okay?!" He argues back, holding his hands up in surrender.

"How's it so different?" I say almost venomously, sitting myself up and crossing my arms, unamused with his poor excuses.

"Because!" He exclaims, his gaze turning soft as he pauses. "Because... I actually care about you, Clem. And when you care, it's a whole lot different to a one-night stand. It's... It's more meaningful that you think. And you deserve more respect than just that."

"Oh." I silence myself, seeing validity within his answer.

"Yeah..." He switches his gaze to the ground, rubbing the back of his neck as an awkward aroma fills the air. Feeling my cheeks start to burn from the embarrassment, I flip myself over to face away from him, shutting my eyes tightly to block out everything. I just want to hide under a rock.

"Night, Luke." I whisper under my breath, barely able to face the man after the awkwardness I just forced us both through, simply because I thought doing 'that' would make us closer... God fucking damnit. I strongly doubt we'll even be able to face each other tomorrow...

My train of thoughts come to a sudden halt as Luke's fingers delicately tucking my locks of black hair behind my ear. His soft, mesmerising lips brush against my flushed cheek, planting a gentle kiss on the side of my face. He leaves behind a sweet, tingling sensation, one which I crave.

"G'night, Clem." He whispers back before returning to his space, laying himself back on the dusty ground.

...

I think my heart just skipped a beat.

* * *

**Now that cringey, crappy piece of shit is out of the way...**

**I apologise for the filler episode. My mind is just blocked af I'm trying to find a way on how to ease everything into the storyline smoothy..The chapter was kind of aimed to be comical,but I failed. Lol.**

**Anyway, I read your guy's reviews. Honestly, I felt so flattered and overwhelmed. Thank you for your support. I aacknowledged the constructive criticism, and there will be somewhat of an improvement from the previous chapters. I also read that people want me to ship certain ships whom shall not be named; I actually ship the coupling myself. We'll have to see how that turns out... **

**Also, certain reviewers want me to 'drop hints' about stuff, foreshadowing and whatnot. Oh trust me, I started since Chapter 3 xD one of them is so subtle and unexpected, I doubt anyone will get it.**

**Please review, follow and fav! It helps me so much. And to all those anonymous reviewers, please make an account so I can reply to your lovely reviews! I don't want to ramble, so I'll end this here.**

* * *

**\+ Edited spaces in between each line - Infinitify**

* * *

**Stay tuned!**


	7. Tensions Arising

**HAHAHAHAHA 469 REVIEWS HAHAHAHAHAHAA**

* * *

I groan and roll my eyes into the back of my head upon hearing the sound of liquid hitting a tree, not daring to glimpse as I stand watch for Luke. "Are you done yet?" I ask in annoyance.

"Give me a sec." He mumbles back, hearing the sound of his belt buckling up. Thank god for that, I sigh in relief. This is way too awkward; standing guard for Luke as he goes and does his 'business'. "Alright, now I'm ready." He murmurs, brushing off the dirt on his tattered, old sweater as he stands at my side.

"Finally." I sigh, tucking a loose lock of hair behind my ears and begin to walk forward, out of the small area of vegetation. We'd been walking for days; finally seeing the trees and greenery around me instead of the bland, earthy tone I had become adjusted to whilst constantly walking on the road is a huge relief. We're finally getting somewhere, it appears.

Thanks to the help of Aidan, that genius. He's been leading us all forward, able to remember each twist and turn, every single shortcut we could take... I still struggle to understand how his memory is so amazing. He hasn't spoken a single word to me, however. The man is introverted, and definitely not the talkative type.

"So, how's your hand holdin' up?" Luke asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turn my head and nod in reassurance.

"Caine said that it's healing quickly. It doesn't hurt much anymore."

"Cool. Hey, try not to hurt yourself again, alright? You have a tendency to do that a lot." Luke says jokingly, a weak smile on his lips. I return the expression, letting out a soft chuckle.

"I'll try my best not to." I reply, falling silent afterwards. I pause in my tracks, hearing nearby rustling in a bush. I instinctively pull out my gun and aim it toward where I heard the stirring, flicking the safety off and chewing down on my lip nervously. "Who's there?"

No response could be heard.

I inhale deeply and make my way over to where the sound was generated from. My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I peer over, seeing nothing; not even a trace of anything, or anyone.

"Don't worry, Clem. It's probably just the wind." Luke sighs, gently placing a hand on my shoulder. "We're all on edge from this 'Parker' guy. Don't let it get to your head, a'ight?"

I exhale loudly and nod my head in agreement. "Yeah, you're probably right." I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "This... This is really getting to me."

"Don't sweat it. We're probably far away from them by this point. No way in hell will they be near us at this point, trust me." He tells assuringly, patting my back in comfort. "Alright, let's get back. Everyone's probably wonder-"

"Where the fuck were you two?!" Kenny wanders over and hisses, making me flinch from the venom in his voice. "We were thinkin' you got fuckin' lost!"

"Chill, Kenny." Luke frowns suspiciously, crossing his arms over his chest. I mirror his expression, suspicious of Kenny's antagonistic nature to Luke over the span of several days. Although he hasn't necessarily been taking out his anger on me, he has been giving me the cold shoulder. I've been wondering what I've done to deserve the treatment.

"I ain't gonna fuckin' chill, Luke. Now get your ass back before I hand it to you." Kenny growls angrily, shooting a glare towards me. "And Clem... You and I need to talk."

I gape at Kenny in disbelief, shocked by his recent behaviour. Luke tuts and shakes his head, unwilling to put up with Kenny's antics any longer (Not that I can blame him) and storms off, shoulder-barging him as he brushes past.

"Talk?" I repeat his words, placing my hands on my hips. "Now we're making progress, Kenny."

"What the fuck d'ya mean?" He hisses back, looking at me in distaste.

"You've been ignoring me for days, Kenny!" I raise my voice and glare coldly, becoming irritated by his scrunched-up expression. "Everytime I try and talk to you, you simply brush me off like I'm nothing. What's the deal with you? What have I done to make you so pissed off at me?"

Kenny simply shakes his head and scowls, leaning in closer. "You know exactly what you've done, Clementine." He mutters harshly, causing me to gulp nervously. He only addresses me by my full name when he's angry; really, really angry.

And yet, I still don't know what the hell I've done wrong.

"Enlighten me."

"Are you really that stupid, Clementine?" He insults, scowling, his one eye making him seem somewhat more intimidating. "Y'know, I was awake when you and Luke decided to 'talk'..."

Oh shit.

I feel the blood rush to my face and my cheeks burning up in embarrassment, my throat drying up. I find myself incapable to reply. Fuck, it all makes sense now. His subtle anger towards Luke, refusal to talk to me; All as a result of my foolishness.

"And now, you two are out here, knockin' each other up in the bushes!"

"What?!" I blurt out as soon as the words come out of his mouth, shaking my head violently. "No, Kenny! It's... not like that!"

Kenny grits his teeth and curls his fists into balls, blocking out my words. "You think I'm stupid?! No fuckin' way! I know what you two did out here. You've always been hangin' around each other more than usual, shootin' each other little glances-"

"What's taking you two so long?" Lilly thankfully interrupts, storming over and joining my side. Noticing Kenny's angered expression, she protectively steps in front of me, not wanting me to get hurt in any way. "What's going on here?"

"Ain't it obvious enough, sunshine? That bastard's been rollin' around like a fuckin' teenager with Clem!" He spits as he paces around restlessly, placing the entire blame on Luke. I gulp and glance at Lilly, shrugging my shoulders nervously.

"He thinks I 'did it' with Luke." I whisper, causing Lilly to frown. "I didn't do anything with him. I promise. He's not listening to me, though."

Lilly sighs in annoyance and pinches the bridge of her nose, turning her head to face Kenny.

"Oh Kenny, you haven't changed one bit, have you?" She begins, snapping the man out of his rage momentarily.

"The fuck you talkin' about?" He snarls, narrowing the gap between himself and Lilly. Things are really starting to kick off...

"Always so irrational, ill-tempered, quick to assume..." She growls, refusing to step down and be intimidated by her rival as his eye widens with rage.

"Y'know, you're soundin' real hypocritical right now, Lilly..." He hisses back, getting a little too close to Lilly. I gulp in discomfort and step forward, trying to intervene.

"At least I've changed!" Lilly exclaims, drowning out my voice completely. "I've done things that I regret so, so much. But at least I have the fucking balls to admit my mistakes and make up for what I've done!"

"Fuck you!" The enraged man yells, lunging forward and pushing her with force. Luckily, she staggers into my arms before she hits the ground, saving her from a painful tumble onto the dry dirt. I curse under my breath as I help Lilly regain her footing, glancing at Kenny with a fearful, wide-eyed expression.

Things have gone way too far.

"Shit..." He mutters sadly upon seeing my shaken appearance, shooting Lilly a fleeting glance before lowering his gaze to the ground in shame. "Oh fuck, Clem, I'm so sorry..."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." I state, placing my hands on my hips and looking at him unforgivingly.

Quickly realising what I mean, Kenny groans audibly and peers over at Lilly, all confidence drained from him.

"Sorry." He grumbles, hiding his face under his cap and spinning around to escape from the scene, heading back to the group.

I let out a sigh of relief, glad that the situation has been (sort of) defused. Lilly smiles smugly, finding confidence in her victory.

"Glad to hear it." She murmurs, tucking a greasy lock of hair behind her ear, exchanging a glance with me. "Let's head back."

"Good idea."

* * *

**Several days later...**

"There is shelter very close. Somewhere we can stay for the night." Aidan states, leading us forward as he speaks. "Spring Creek. Very unlikely to be occupied. Abandoned last time I was there."

"Thanks, man." Luke nods, rubbing his tired eyes. "I think we could all do with a good night's rest, a roof over our heads. We all appreciate what you're doin' for us."

Aidan doesn't respond; and instead, he remains expressionless. In confusion of the man's behaviour, Luke reaches his hand out and tries to pat him on the shoulder, but is hastily swatted away by a startled Lilly.

"Don't." Lilly says bluntly, shaking her head vigorously. "He's autistic. He doesn't react too well to people touching him."

That explains a lot: Why he's so smart, so introverted. He must have photographic memory.

"Oh, sorry. My bad." Luke mutters apologetically, focusing his stare on the ground.

I find it upsetting how not even once have Luke and I even talked since the incident with Kenny. We're usually chatting away, reminiscing about old memories and telling anecdotes. The most we've done so far is exchange fleeting glances.

Ever since Kenny kicked off, the three of us have kept our distance from each other. Luke and I don't want Kenny to start getting suspicious and start yelling yet again. And as with Kenny... I attempted to initiative a conversation with him, but he gave me the cold shoulder. He'd much more rather talk to Lucy's father, and the teenager with the bandana covering her eye. I think her name is Anne.

"Clementine?" The young blonde man, Thomas, catches up to my pace, walking beside me. Ugh, what does he want?

Wow, I sound so anti-social and aloof right now.

"Yes?" I quirk an eyebrow and peer at him, conveying my unwillingness to talk. I want to be left alone with my thoughts right now.

"Hey! Um, I was just wondering.. how's your hand doing? Do you need your bandages changed at all, or..." He falls silent, reading my 'I-really-don't-like-you-so-please-disappear-forever-' expression, laughing nervously.

"I'm obviously fine. Only Caine changes my bandages. He's a real doctor with real experience." I say, admittedly quite harshly. His happy expression is quickly replaced with a grimacing one.

"Fine. Whatever." He groans in defeat, falling back as I proceed to walk at my normal pace. Wow, shaking that guy off went smoother than suspected.

I sigh out of boredom and look over to my left, spotting Lucy chatting away happily with her father and younger brother. It makes me happy; yet somewhat envious, seeing how happy and innocent Lucy is. The teenager still has her whole family intact, even after a whole decade living in this dangerous and unforgiving world.

Lucy catches me glancing at her, a warm, welcoming smile lighting up her face. "Hey, Clem!" The friendly girl waves, beckoning me over to her and her family. I'd usually refuse; but I have a soft spot for Lucy. I smile shyly and reluctantly edge over to the family.

"Hey, Clem. How are you feelin'?" Lucy asks me with her usual Southern twang, very similar to Luke's. A smile tugs at my lips and I shrug in response.

"I'm good, I guess." I murmur shyly, feeling somewhat awkward as Lucy's father and brother stare right at me, shuffling forward uncomfortably.

"Cool. Uhm, could you come with me please?" The blonde asks ambiguously. I raise my eyebrows at her and wait for her to elaborate. "Y'know, I need to... relieve my bladder." She says the last part in a hushed tone as if it's a taboo topic.

"What am I, the piss guardian?" I sigh and roll my eyes, recalling the amount of times I've had to stand watch while people pee metres away from me. It's disturbing.

"Yeah, I guess." Lucy smiled shyly, glancing away for a split second. "I'd rather not go by myself. Anythin' could sneak up on me."

Rolling my eyes, I groan and nod my head slowly, giving in to the girl's demands. "Fine, I'll go with you."

Lucy smiles gratefully, glad that I'm accompanying her on her piss journey. Great.

"Be careful, Luc." Her father pats her shoulder as she turns away. The girl simply sends a reassuring smile her father's way, wandering off to the side as I follow.

* * *

I shift uncomfortably as Lucy squats behind a large bush, running my fingers across the rugged edges of my treasured nail file in boredom. Luckily for me, she doesn't take too long relieving her bladder; she quickly pulls up her denim trousers, zipping the front back up as she stands by my side.

"Thanks, Clem." Lucy mutters, brushing a few strands of stray hair behind her ear. "I'd probably have a panic attack if I came here alone."

"But we're about 20 metres away from the group... No need to be scared." I raise an eyebrow, not sure if she's exaggerating, or actually serious.

"Yeah, well... I'm a coward, and that's puttin' it lightly." The young teenager laughs nervously, folding her arms over her chest.

I look at her with concern, wondering if she's ever had to experience the horrors of this world. "Lucy, have you ever killed anything?"

She takes a few seconds to reply, before shaking her head in response. "No, I haven't. We lived in Silver Lake since the start, and we were sheltered by this trench. All the dead would fall in there, no chance they'd be gettin' in our home... We escaped five years ago. Sure, there were a few biters roamin' around, but only a few. Daddy took care of 'em. I guess they've all rotted away by now, since we haven't seen a single one in weeks; maybe even months." She argues, and her point is actually pretty valid. She's been nurtured her entire life... I would kill for a life like hers.

Still, I'm not exactly envious... I hate to say it, but the teenager seems pretty frail. I get it, but damn. She needs to toughen up and be useful for once. Maybe I could help her become somewhat stronger, or at least teach her something to help make her more.. independent.

As the faint rustling of bushes could be heard, I instinctively whip out my pistol, aiming down the sights and scanning the area for whatever caused the noise. Relieved when I see what caused the sound; a pure-white, innocent-looking bunny, I can't help but smile at the sight.

"Aw, it's so cute..." Lucy cooes, a bright smile on her face as she watches the animal hop around freely. "Reminds me of my old pet rabbit back at Silver Lake. We called him Muffins, don't ask why."

I giggle and smile at her innocence, before switching back to the bunny again. I only just notice how hungry I am... Eying the animal up hungrily, I raise my pistol and look down the sights, aiming directly for it's bright, blue eye.

Before I can pull the trigger, the rabbit flees from the scene, hopping off on it's hind legs. I mutter a curse under my breath and kick the ground. Damn it, there goes my meal...

"Look!" Lucy speaks in a hushed tone, raising her hand and pointing towards something. My gaze follows hers, landing upon some sort of animal hiding behind a bush in the distance. It was hiding behind a bush, an extremely small portion of it's body showing; maybe a hind leg? I can't see from this far away.

My glance constantly switches from Lucy, to the pistol in my hands. I doubt the girl's ever layed her hands on a weapon, and this would be the perfect opportunity to teach her how to shoot. She'd be proving her usefulness by bringing back food. Win win, right?

"Hey, Lucy. Do you know how to shoot?" I ask, glancing at her with a glint in my eye. Confused, the teenager shakes her head and pursed her lips.

"No, why?"

"You need to learn how." I tell her, practically forcing the gun into her palm despite her protests. With a panicked expression, she blinks at the gun in her hands, shaking her head in denial.

"I'm not sure that I can..." She whimpers, fumbling around with the weapon in her hands. I slap my forehead at her startled behaviour and edge closer, readjusting the gun in her hands.

"There." I say, huffing as her body turns stiff with fright. "Relax, Lucy. Deep breaths."

The anxious girl gulps loudly, inhaling deeply through her nose, exhaling loudly out her mouth. Her muscles ease up slightly.

"Keep the gun steady." I instruct, noticing the gun trembling in her hands. "Aim down the sights as accurately as you can. Once you're confident enough, pull the trigger."

"I-It's so far. How will I hit it?" She asks as she does as told; aiming down the sights, precisely aiming for the animal.

"If your aim is precise, you'll hit it. By the looks of it, your aim is good." I tell her reassuringly. "I reckon you can hit that animal. Pull the trigger."

"Okay..." She mutters, gasping as she pulls the trigger. A loud shot cracks through the air as the bullet flies from the gun and towards the animal hiding behind the bush.

I watch in pride as my student's bullet hit the target, a fountain of blood erupting from the gunshot wound inflicted upon the animal.

But then, all the blood drains from my face as a loud scream erupts through the air.

That wasn't an animal.

It was a _person._

* * *

_BARE SHOULDERS CAN LOOK LIKE DEER LEGS FROM DISTANCES. I KNOW THIS FROM EXPERIENCE. AND THAT'S WHY I INCLUDED IT. DON'T JUDGE OK._

_SO WHUT UP__ MY BITCHES? Yes, I finally uploaded. Sorry for the hiatus. It was my birthday week; I turned 14! WOOO! Anyway, I will be uploading chapters ASAP._

_So yeah, drama. Sorry for the lack of action up to this point, it's mainly build-up. However, in the next chapter or two depending how much I decide to include, the action may be... overwhelming. So yeah. Also, we'll be getting to know ALL the characters more. I promise I'll make it interesting yet not as boring as watching paint dry. I want all characters to get lines, but it's just difficult. _

_I really hope you're enjoying the story so far. From this point, the chapters will have an impact on you. I'm also going to leave polls at the end. For example:_

_Clementine has two choices - Eat the apple, or the strawberry. Which one does she choose? _

_A - Apple. _

_B - Strawberry. _

_The choice with the most votes wins._

_So yeah. Also, just to warn you beforehand, I will be switching to third-person soon. It's just that I'd like to get several perspectives across, yet I don't want to confuse anyone by the millions of character POV's. so yeah. Expect 3rd person. And more Clem x Luke. **Lots** of it._

_I have a question for you all to answer; who's your favourite OC thus far? Quinn and Lucy have had a lot of lines, so I guess they'll probably be the top two. Not many others have spoken yet, but that will change next chapter, and you may feel attached.. I really want to give other characters lines, so WHO'S YOUR FAVOURITE? ALSO, WHO IS THIS MYSTERIOUS PERSON BEHIND THE BUSH? IS HE/SHE FRIENDLY? IS HE/SHE FROM THE PREVIOUS INSTALLMENT OF THERE'S STILL HOPE? _

_Alright. **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW**. YOUR SUPPORT HELPS ME SO MUCH. MAKE SURE TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS RIGHT THERE ^^ SEE YOU MY SWEET ZOO OF GUINEA PIGS _


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